


Mojave, Mo Problems

by KomSilence



Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Adaptation, Fallout, Full Story, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-06-27 20:08:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15692496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KomSilence/pseuds/KomSilence
Summary: A retelling of Fallout New Vegas, with some alterations to structure to let the story flow better





	1. Prologue: “The Game Was Rigged From The Start”

_It’s often said that War, War Never Changes, and some may argue that it isn’t true, after all the methods of war change, doctrines, weapons, rules and conventions. The truth though is, that isn’t war, it isn’t the cause, it’s just another bit that came with it._

 

_War, war never changes, the reasons always stay the same. Ideology, land, property, money, and so on. When the Brotherhood of Steel fought the NCR for HELIOS One, it was over property, the lost tech of the old world._

 

_When the Legion fought the NCR for Hoover Dam, it was over Ideology and for the greatest strategic point in the Mojave. Every day out there in the Wasteland is a new war brewing, built out of some ideology or desire for land or some old piece of old world junk._

 

_And when the Lucky 38 opened and Mr. House began to exert his control over the wastes, a new war formed, but not one fought with guns and bombs, one fought with caps and gambling. No matter what, every day out there in the wastes there is a new war brewing, no matter what there will always be a new war, a new reason for humans to fight._

 

_Because War, war never changes._

 

_But maybe Men Do._

 

[=Goodsprings Cemetery=]

 

Seth awoke and grumbled, everything around him was dark, his hands were bound, great. _“Okay Seth, remember what you were doing last, don’t panic, don’t panic no mat- no focus. What were you doing last?”_ He told himself, running through everything last, his mouth was parched, he could go for a bottle of water, or maybe a bottle of sunset.

 

“He’s awake!” Another voice called out.

 

“Great baby great. Take that bag off him.”

 

“Hey, why did you want him alive anyways?”

 

“I like to look a man in the eye and apologize first.”

 

Seth heard others grumbling about how pointless it was anyways, and then it started to come back to him, _“The chip!”_ he realized. Seth started to struggle hard, he needed to break free of his bonds and strangle the asshole that-

 

The bag was ripped off, Seth blinked, harsh light was before him as he looked ahead and saw a gaudy image of bright neon lights and harsh flames, as he adjusted he looked about, seeing several uniform outfits, took Seth a moment, _Great Khans_. He squinted in anger, it’d mean something if he wasn’t tied up.

 

Cigarette smoke, Seth looked about and found someone completely different, white checkered suit, tacky hair, and in his hand, a silver engraved 9mm pistol, Seth squinted and tried to get a better look at the engravings, didn’t matter as the man wheeled about on his heels.

 

“Eeeey, look who’s awake,” the man commented, he smiled, “Great to see you sport, really sorry about this baby but honestly-” the man continued pulling out a white poker chip, waving it about, “-You couldn’t know what this holds.”

 

It was a package, what else was it meant to be?

 

“You got what you were after, so pay up Benny,” One of the Khans demanded.

 

Benny looked at the Khan, annoyed, “Crying in the rain pal, wait and you’ll get paid.”

 

“Just get it over with!”

 

“Khans kill people without looking em in the face, but I ain’t a fink,” Benny stated, annoyance in his voice as he put the chip into his coat.

 

Suddenly the pistol was raised, right at Seth’s head, engravings didn’t matter now, it was barely a foot away from his face, his eyes widened and his breathing hastened.

 

_“This is how I die?”_

 

“From where you’re kneeling it must seem like a 18 karat run of bad luck, the truth is-” Benny smirked, “-The game was rigged from the start.”

 

With a quick pull of the trigger, Seth slumped over, Benny walked over and popped another round, “Double tap baby, never presume that your victim is just dead.”

 

The Khans stared at Benny, wondering what had possessed this man to do this, and why the chip was so important.

 

After a good minute Benny looked over, “Get digging.”

 

The Khans did as they were told, shrugging as they got to work, unaware that they were being watched from afar, by a robot with a screen face.

 

[=Goodsprings=]

 

Doc Mitchell walked over to the front door of his home and flipped the sign, closed for the evening as always. Living in a small town in the mojave didn’t tend to bring a lot of problems, especially as the town was attacked so little.

 

The worst he had to deal with today was a settler accidentally striking a nail into his hand, Mitchell was proud of the work he did no matter how small. He found that as you got older, you started to slow down or remain sharp as ever, and Mitchell used to be a bit of a different man when he was younger.

 

Now he was just a old county doctor, but one of the best damn doctors around, and he was certain there was no problem he couldn’t fix.

 

Mitchell rubbed his neck and began to walk away, he had found a old book in good condition at Chet’s earlier that day and wished to actually read it, and just as he took the first few steps, he heard something.

 

“Doc! We got a problem!”

 

Mitchell stopped and looked at the door, that was the voice of Victor, that buggy robot from down the road. Whatever Victor wanted, it had to be serious, never once had he ever bothered Mitchell about anything, for obvious reasons of course.

 

Mitchell opened the door and saw Victor, his telescreen face displaying a cartoon cowboy looking worried, in his arms was a human, bleeding profusely from the head, sand in his wounds, and paler than a ghost.

 

“I found him buried out in the cemetery Doc! He’s still alive!”

 

Mitchell may have been a old man by now, but one thing that had stuck with him was his medical training, kicking into gear he directed Victor inside his home and took the victim over to a operating table.

 

Rope burns, bruises, and most damning of all, two neat bullet holes in the victim’s head, one of which had powder burn, point blank. Doc Mitchell was good, but he wasn’t god, he got to work with what tools he had.

 

“Come on now, don’t you die on me.”

 

Sleepless nights were uncommon, but not unfamiliar to Doc Mitchell, and this was going to be one of those. He worked with precision as quick as he could, stripping the body down and hooking him to a IV, in the clothing he found a Mojave Express Order, a courier.

 

“Well Courier, whatever your name is, I’m not gonna let you die on my operating table.”

 

Mitchell made the promise, but it was hollow, many had died on his table before, as said before, he wasn’t god.

 

Still, the Courier clung to life, somehow the bullets didn’t seem to bother him and Mitchell set about attempting to remove them. Mitchell could tell that if this Courier made it through all of this, he’d have quite the adventure ahead of him.


	2. Chapter 1: Ain't that a Kick In the Head

Mitchell watched over the still figure, it had taken a lot of work, but this Courier had refused to die, as soon as he had started to regain colour and breath easier, he grunted something about “find that bastard”. Mitchell didn’t want to know what was with that, revenge often lead nowhere and was more likely to just leave the poor soul intent on finding it hollow and empty inside, at least that was his point of view.

 

Ever since leaving Vault 21, Mitchell had seen it time and time again, some poor soul got wronged and went off on a quest of vengeance, leaving them bitter and hateful in the end. Still, it wasn’t exactly his place to judge, kind of hard not to be mad about being shot twice in the face.

 

The courier eventually sat up, groaning and gasping for air, “Whoa easy there! You’ve been through quite a rough patch there fella,” Mitchell said trying to ease his patient.

 

“Let’s take it slow, how about your name, do you remember your name?”

 

The courier looked over at Mitchell and gasped a bit, eventually rasping out “Seth” before waving a hand for water. Mitchell handed Seth a bottle who proceeded to down it in seconds, gasping hard, “Thanks.”

 

Mitchell nodded, “Hope you don’t mind, had to go rooting about in your noodle there, I think I did some pretty good work but let’s see what you think,” he said handing Seth a mirror.

 

Seth looked over himself, several scars littered his face, along with two larger ones near his right temple, they were round and interconnected together.  _ “How did those get the-” _ and then it started to rush back to him, Seth remembered being shot.

 

He wasn’t sure what he was feeling, anger at being shot and left for dead, or amazement at the fact that somehow he had survived a double tap. Either he was lucky as all hell, incredibly durable, or that silver pistol was a piece of shit meant just for show. No matter the answer, Seth was pissed, Benny, he remembered the look, he remembered the name. He couldn’t wait, he attempted to stand up, only to stagger and struggle.

 

“Whoa easy there, you might be experiencing some brain damage, take it slow now it’s not a race,” Mitchell said standing up to help Seth balance himself.

 

Seth grumbled and took a deep breath, of course being shot in the head had impaired him, there were gaps in his memory, he didn’t feel like himself.

 

_ “New day, new you Seth,” _ he thought as he started to walk around, as best as he could. Doc Mitchell leading him over to what looked like a old game machine. Upon further inspection it was a Vitomatic-Vigor-Tester, Seth got the idea, test his SPECIAL stats to see if he was stable enough to get going.

 

This was something that always confused Seth about vault dwellers and Vault-Tec, they had devices that could somehow quantify your physical stats on a scale from 1 to 10, how the hell that worked he had no idea, but the idea intrigued him. Then there were those ever elusive and expensive pip-boys, with their advanced targeting computers and V.A.T.S, Vault-Tec satellites made some sense for the map functions. Truth be told Seth really wanted his own Pip-Boy, it’d be very useful.

 

Seth gripped the vigor tester handle and watched the score fly up, Mitchell was pleased, “Rather balanced, though you seem to a bit of a brainiac, that’s good. Least we know that the bullets didn’t do too much damage,” he said with a amused tone.

 

“Still,” Mitchell continued, “Doesn’t mean them bullets didn’t leave you nuttier than bighorner droppings. Let’s finish this up with some quick tests.”

 

“You sure about that doc?” Seth asked following Mitchell, “I’m feeling fine, pretty good actually, how many stimpaks did you stick into me?””

 

Seth felt great, he felt like there was a spring in his step, as if he could take on anything, though even he wasn’t certain if that was painkiller or his personality being altered by the bullets. He was trying to remember, what was he like before?

 

Mitchell sat down and Seth followed suite, staring at the Doctor who proceeded to run him through a series of questions, Mitchell wasn't a psychologist after all so he was stuck with some basic material.

 

“What do you see here for example?” “Two bears high fiving.”

 

They got through them quick enough, as far as Mitchell could tell, Seth was fine as anyone who lived out in the wastes could be, though rather eager to try new things and fixing to be the center of attention. Seth was allowed to look over the sheet and agreed with it, all that was left was a bit of medical history and he was allowed to leave.

 

Seth pulled on his old bit of leather armor, apparently they had buried him in it and he found something still hooked to the belt, his Vault 13 canteen, “Huh? The hell?” he said holding it up, fresh drinking water was still with him, and he felt something in the pants, pulling it out was revealed to be his 10 mil pistol, Grayson, wait he had named his pistol grayson?

 

Seth sighed, that was probably like him, naming his guns to better remember them instead of generic descriptors like “10mm Pistol” or “Varmint Rifle”.  _ “Shit, need more guns,”  _ Seth realized as he looked at the gun before him. Something in the back of his mind clicked, he had a stash back in Primm.

 

_ “Wait seriously? Shit, better go find it when I can,” _ Seth thought as he walked up to the door, only to be stopped by Doc Mitchell, who was standing there holding what looked to be a weird looking bag made of some sort of silver gray material, with a Vault-Tec logo on it, and in his other hand, Seth’s eyes widened, a  **_Pip-Boy 3000!_ **

 

“Here, don’t have much use for them now myself, but I figured someone like you could use them,” Doc Mitchell stated with a soft smile.

 

Seth instantly gripped onto the items and slung the bag over his shoulder and the pip boy onto his left wrist, fiddling with the settings, his face displaying manic glee over the Pip Boy gift, “Hey thanks Doc.”

 

“Not a problem, that Vault-Tec Smart Bag will help you keep track of your stuff as well, easier to carry things across the wastes when you got space.”

 

Seth nodded adjusting the bag over his back, he placed the supplies on hand inside it, “Where should I start doc?”

 

“Get your bearings around town first, head over to the Saloon, a gal name Sunny Smiles has offered to help you get back on your feet. Those bullets probably didn’t do a lot of good for you mentally.”

 

Seth nodded, waved goodbye and stepped out.

 

=============[The Town of Goodsprings]=============

 

The sun was bright and hot, Seth remembered why he hated the outdoors instantly, he grumbled and tried not to let it ruin his good mood, he was ready to face the world, get himself together, and kick that smarmy asshole that shot him right in the family jewels.

 

“Well howdy Partner! Might I say you are looking as fit as a fiddle!” A flanging voice called out, Seth looked down from the hill Doc’s shack was on and saw a robot, a model different to the ones he could recall.

 

Seth blinked, “Hi? Who are you?”

 

“Well my name’s Victor! I’m the son of a gun that dug ya outta that shallow grave up on the hill.”

 

Seth smiled a bit, “Thanks for that Victor.”

 

“Naw, it weren’t no big deal, you woulda done the same.”

 

“So what kind of robot are you anyways?”

 

“I am a Robco model Securitron, though why I’m all the way out here I can’t rightly recall. I should be back in New Vegas.”

 

Seth raised a brow at that, and the two proceeded to talk for awhile, before finally Victor looked over Seth’s left arm, “Oh hey there Partner, ya got yourself a Robco pip boy! Figured it out yet?”

 

Seth raised it up and got back to settings, “Mostly, I hear this thing has V.A.T.S, but I can’t seem to get it to work, what am I doing wrong?”

 

Victor rolled over, “Oh I see what’s wrong, ya haven’t gotten the nerve spike in that, lemme just fix that for you.”

 

“The nerve-whaaaaaAAAOOOOOOOH!” Seth started just as he felt something painfully dig into his arm, so much so he collapsed in pain grasping his left arm.

 

“Hurts something painful yeah, typically kids get this and it goes in fine, or ya get painkillers,” Victor stated, hoping to ease the pain with explanation.

 

He did not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some artistic choices have been made to try and justify some loose use of game mechanics.
> 
> The Pip Boy for this looks less like a straight up 3000 model and closer to the Mark VI in design, at least for buttons and dials.
> 
> Some things will be rushed through for sake of story pace and brevity. Story missions will be handled as best as possible.


	3. Chapter 2: Back In The Saddle

Eventually the fire of pain that was Seth’s arm settled down, after about 15 minutes of writhing in the ground in pain. During that time Victor had rolled off, and rolled back holding a bottle of Sunset, he gingerly set it down as a peace offering, the stare Seth gave him was decidedly unfriendly after all. Victor’s telescreen displayed a worried face as he waved his arms.

 

“Sorry about that friend, just needed you to get that implant in, it hurts like a radscorpion sure, but now the thing can monitor yer body in real-time, gonna be real helpful with that smart bag and the need to put clothing on.”

 

Seth didn’t even really listen after that, as in his vision, there was this slight haze around his vision, amber in color, he grumbled.

 

“Seems the H.U.D is working as well, These things were designed to withstand the apocalypse, figured it would help, settings to adjust how invasive it is are down in the Pipboy’s health monitor,” Victor explained.

 

Seth stood up finally and gave Victor a look, he knew a lot about Robco products, then again he had admitted to being a Robco model and seemed generally helpful. Maybe Securitrons were just generally like that. Regardless, Seth had wasted enough time out here, it was time to head to the Prospector Saloon and finally figure out what was wrong with him.

 

=============[Prospector Saloon]=============

 

Seth stepped in and looked about, a few people were sitting in booths, sipping drinks, there were two settlers at the pool table playing a quick game, and the old Jukebox was playing a song.

 

 _“_ _To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day_

_Hardly spoke to folks around him, didn't have too much to say”_

 

Seth let out a whistled as he looked about, quaint, he liked i- that train of thought was suddenly cut off by the sound of barking and looked down to see a dog angrily barking at him, “What the hell?”

 

“Cheyenne stay!” Another voice called out, over walked a woman in leather armor, carrying what was a old 5.56 sport rifle, the Varmint Rifle as it was called out here in the Mojave. Seth looked at the woman before her and raised his hand.

 

“Uh, hi?”

 

“Don’t worry, she won’t bite, unless told to. Name’s Sunny Smiles, you must be that Courier Doc Mitchell was patching up,” Sunny responded.

 

Seth blinked, “Okay I’ve been barely out a hour, how do you already know this?”

 

“Simple, word travels fast around a small town, Victor spoke a lot about finding you up in our cemetery, and the town has a active ham radio system to keep in contact in case of emergencies.”

 

Seth had to admit, that made some sense, “Wait does that mean?”

 

“Yeah Doc called in shortly after you left, he made mention that you were screaming in pain outside his doorstep, something about the Pip Boy you got?” Sunny responded, grinning, amused at the mental image.

 

Seth sighed, “How many implants does this thing carry?”

 

“Dunno, maybe Doc reloaded it.”

 

Seth blanched and decided it was time to leave the topic of a reusable implant and- “Hey you can help me get myself back together right?”

 

Sunny smirked and looked over Seth, “You seem to be walking just fine, but sure, we can do some practice shots out back. Ya got a weapon?”

 

Seth drew Grayson, “Weathered 10 mil, durable and weighty.”

 

Sunny looked over it, “Nah, not gonna be enough,” she said, “Come on, let’s take you out sport shooting.” Sunny and Cheyenne walked off, leaving Seth to follow them out to the back of the Prospector Saloon.

 

=============[Goodsprings]=============

 

Several Sunset Sarsaparilla bottles sitting on a fence. The courier gave it a look and turned to Sunny, who picked up a spare Varmint Rifle and shoved it into Seth’s hands.

 

“Okay then,” Seth responded, getting the idea, “Let’s see how the terrifying bottles handle a 5.56 round.”

 

Seth took aim, and fired, only to miss, he grumbled and aimed down the sights. It took a few tries until Sunny decided to direct him on more proper form, such as crouching down to stabilize his aim. It worked and Seth started to improve, breaking bottles like they were nothing.

 

“Pretty good, but I’m fairly sure you didn’t come out here to shoot defenseless bottles, right? Care for something more challenging?”

 

Seth gave Sunny a look, sure he could use some more but he was already pre-

 

“If you come with me there are some caps involved.”

 

“Sold!”

 

Seth holstered his new rifle Yosemite and began to follow Sunny and Cheyenne out to the Goodsprings source, getting to shoot stuff was good, and with all this spare 5.56 ammo he had now, it should be a snap to deal with whatever was there.

 

Sunny hid behind a rock and motioned for Seth to get down, he did as told and looked out, seeing three geckos near the well, “Fun.”

 

“Go on, try and stay unseen, see how it works.”

 

Seth slowly creeped out, Yosemite in hand, slowly he raised it, took aim, and fired. For some reason the gecko’s head exploded, splatting blood and brain over the others, who took notice and turned about, seeing Seth.

 

“Uh… I can explain!”

 

The geckos charged and Seth panicked, he fired another round at the second gecko and watched as it dropped to the ground, a neat hole in its head. The third gecko got too close, Seth couldn’t shoot with Yosemite properly and in a panic quickly gripped Grayson. Time slowed and before his eyes he could see what looked to be a faint amber outline of the gecko.

 

Seth looked over the gecko, and from the way it was attacking, little percentages appeared, the highest was over the gecko’s head. Seth grimaced and pulled the trigger, time resumed.

 

“Whoa! Nice shooting there!” Sunny responded running forward as Seth sat there, a dead gecko laying on top of him.

 

Seth spat a bit, he could taste gecko blood in his mouth, “Fuck me, these things are awful uncooked.”

 

Sunny helped Seth up who proceeded to try and get the sand and blood off of him as he grimaced, Grayson in his hand, a spent 10 mil case on the ground, he looked back at his Pip Boy to see if he had any internal bleeding or anything, and then got to wondering about the moment earlier, where time stopped. That was V.A.T.S, it had to be, somehow it made his hands feel even more stable as he pulled that trick. Seth grinned, “Oh cybernetic implants are fun.”

 

Sunny congratulated him and invited him along to the other well, Seth followed eagerly, ready to try out V.A.T.S some more, the further he moved, the more obvious the thing in his sight became, it looked like one of those computerized visors he saw back in New Reno that were stripped from Power Armor helmets. A Heads Up Display, that’s what it was called.

 

“God damn I am a idiot, how badly scrambled are my brains?”

 

“What was that?” Sunny called.

 

“Nothing!” Seth responded, _“Note to self: Make sure all internal dialogue remains_ **_internal._ ** _”_

 

=============[Goodsprings Source]=============

 

The HUD seemed to work in conjunction with the Pip Boy and even had what looked to be little red pips ahead, as Seth approached the well, he realized they were the Geckos. Hostile geckos, somehow the Pip Boy could identify what was hostile to him and what wasn’t. However that worked, wasn’t important at the moment, what was more important was not getting his face bitten off.

 

Sunny and Seth cleared out the Geckos and Seth learned that V.A.T.S wasn’t a “I win” button, he missed twice trying again and ended up just having to shoot them with his gun regularly. Yosemite was a good rifle, not really high powered or damaging, but good, more than enough for these mutants.

 

As Sunny and Seth cleared up the Well, Cheyenne started to bark loudly at the cliffside. Seth, curious about what the dog could be barking at looked over, down below he saw a settler fending off Geckos with a cleaver, badly.

 

Then he heard it, “I NEED HELP!”

 

He acted without thinking, leaping over the cliff and firing Grayson a few times, it was a crazy stunt but something compelled him to do so. The call for help, strangely, this didn’t feel like him, answering the call didn’t feel like something he’d do.

 

As he got to the bottom of the cliff, Seth concentrated hard and VATS activated, the Gecko was in mid leap, just about to bite the Settler’s face off. The percentages rated, chest shot at this range with his skill with a gun was about 95%, the shot in the head was about 72%.

 

Seth ran over it, sure he could shoot the chest, maybe it wouldn’t hit the settler, but that wasn’t likely, Geckos were tough, and Sunny had prioritized shooting them in the head. Nothing lasts long without its brains. Seth felt himself take a deep breath, and aimed for the head, pulling Grayson’s trigger.

 

The settler watched as the Gecko’s head exploded and it flopped before her, a gorey stump where the threatening beast once was. She blinked as Seth stood up and dusted himself off, “Hey!”

 

Seth looked over, “Thanks a lot stranger, holy moley I thought I was a goner there for sure.”

 

Seth shrugged, “No big deal, saw someone needin’ a hand, lended one.”

 

The settler dug into a satchell she was carrying and handed Seth 3 bottles of water, “I was just grabbing some clean water for Goodsprings, but here, take these, you look like you need em.”

 

Seth was quite shocked to get purified water, especially 3 bottles worth, wasn’t exactly easy to come by, and here this settler was just handing him some water. “Uh, thanks.”

 

Sunny came around a corner, varmint rifle brandished only to lower it when she saw the settler safe and sound, “Well look at that.”

 

The Settler and Sunny ended up talking and Sunny nodded, “Seems like you got a hang of yourself partner, I’m gonna take Miss Kent here back up to Goodsprings, say Hi to Trudy for me at the Prospector Saloon when you get back.”

 

With that, the two walked off, leaving Seth by himself. He looked about and shrugged, deciding to explore around Goodsprings a bit. Along his short travels, he found a cliff side with a skeleton sitting in a chair with 4 red balls, fended off a bandit, cleared out the Goodsprings Schoolhouse and found a cleaner looking caravan shotgun he named Wolfjaw, and finally stopped by the General Store to buy some supplies with what caps he had.

 

=============[Goodsprings]=============

 

Seth stepped out of the General Store and dusted off his new outfit, he had gotten a duster outfit, Chet in the store had described it as a outlaw uniform. He had a hard time believing that, for a fairly good reason, a uniform, really? There was a advantage to the old duster though, it had what appeared to be holders and holsters for weaponry, Seth having gladly stuck Wolfjaw and Yosemite inside, making it far easier to carry than just shoving them in his bag.

 

Seth’s mouth was parched and as tempting as it was to just drink from his canteen or the bottles of water hanging out in the Smart Bag, he figured it was about time to visit the Prospector’s Saloon and see what was what.

 

As he stepped in he heard a argument going on, “I’m tired of asking! Where the hell is Ringo!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit slower, but just felt the need to establish some stuff before we move onto the actual story.


	4. Chapter 3: Ghost Town Gunfight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The start of longer chapters.

=============[Prospector Saloon]=============

 

Seth stepped over to where the Argument was, he saw a man in what looked to be a denim jacket, dark grey pants, and kevlar body armor, who seemed to be having a heated argument with Trudy. Trudy however seemed less angered and more bothered, as if she couldn’t believe this idiot was wasting her time. The Courier watched as the man demanded someone named Ringo.

 

“He ain’t here Cobb. Go,” Trudy said plainly, her contempt barely constrained for him.

 

Cobb just glared and stomped out, shooting a look at Seth before leaving, “The fuck you looking at?”

 

Seth stepped out of the way as Cobb exited the Saloon, he looked about nervously before stepping forward over to the Bar.

 

“Soooo… the fuck was that about?”

 

Trudy rolled her eyes, “Nothing that concerns you, welcome to Goodsprings by the way, how can I help?”

 

Seth just wanted to ask for a bottle of liquor and some water before leaving, but something inside him compelled him to ask more. There was no way that he would not be seeing Cobb again, and he wanted to know what was what, though judging by the look on Trudy’s face, she wasn’t willing to talk about it. Thinking quickly Seth decided to leave that topic.

 

“Hey that Radio looks busted, want me to look at it?”

 

Trudy raised a brow, “Think you can? I’d appreciate that, it’d be nice to hear the voice of Mr. New Vegas again, he seems like such a gentleman.”

 

Seth stepped behind the bar and looked over the radio, seemed like a simple fix honestly, wasn’t exactly busted. A few crossed wires and everything, as he hooked everything into place, the Radio roared to life and the voice of Mr. New Vegas could be heard. He was rather pleased with himself and looked back over to Trudy.

 

“I fixed it!”

 

“I heard as soon as the smooth voice of Mr. New Vegas came through, nice work. What’s your name anyways?”

 

The courier smiled, “Seth,” he responded as Trudy dropped him some caps. Nice to get paid for his work for once.

 

The two ended up talking for a bit about Goodsprings, apparently Victor had rolled in one day and set up shop, it seemed a little too convenient considering Victor had dug him out of his shallow grave. There had to be something there.

 

“So, now that I’ve had a few drinks, I’m brave enough to ask, what’s the deal with Ringo and Cobb?”

 

Trudy gave Seth a confused look, “Why are you interested in that?”

 

“Just wanna know.”

 

Trudy shrugged, “A few days ago this caravaneer comes in, saying that he’s the survivor of a attack from Powder Gangers-”

 

That clicked with Seth, he recalled the Powder Gangers, a gang that were formerly NCR criminals that came in and got access to dynamite. Most of them were holed up in the correctional facility, _“Wait how do I know that?”_

 

“-And asks for a place to hide. We’re not ones to turn away folks in need so we set him up in the abandoned gas station up the road.”

 

Seth blinked, “Don’t you think Cobb will come back and eventually find him?”

 

“As far as I see it, not our problem really, Cobb’ll get tired and leave eventually.”

 

There was a lingering sense of doubt, Cobb didn’t seem like the type to just give up, he’d come back, likely with friends, and burn the place to the ground. Gangs were just bandits but better dressed and with less rape, still plenty of murder though. Out here in the wasteland if you ain’t killing, you were probably being killed.

 

Seth did have to admit though, it wasn’t his business, every part of him was telling him that this small town had done enough and he needed to get on his wa-

 

“You ever thought of just helping Ringo and killing Cob?”

 

 _“God damn it Seth what are you doing?!”_ were his immediate next thoughts.

 

“Just not our way, we’re not ones for murder, we’ll fight to defend ourselves but that’s a bit far.”

 

Seth sat there for a good few minutes and got up, leaving some caps for the drinks and stepping out. Didn’t even say goodbye, he just stood up and left the Saloon, he needed to get some answers.

 

=============[Goodsprings Gas Station]=============

 

Seth opened the door and stepped in looking about, the place was a bit of a mess, whoever had to hide out here wouldn’t be comfortable. Opened tin cans, a few jugs of water, Seth felt bad for Ringo, up until he felt the barrel of a gun press against his temple.

 

“Just got my noggin fixed and already it’s gonna be shot again…”

 

“Hands in the air where I can see them,” Ringo demanded, it had to be Ringo as he was the only one said to be in this place.

 

Seth raised his hands and turned to Ringo, “I’m not here to fight, I’m here to check up on you.”

 

Ringo got a good look at Seth now, and saw the scars, Ringo whistled before looking at his gun, a 9 mil. Ringo started to piece things together and put it away, “Well I guess it wouldn’t do much if you already survived two shots to the head, I’m Ringo.”

 

“I figured.”

 

“Well, whatever you are here for, care to play some caravan?”

 

Seth grimaced a bit, he had a bit of a gambling problems, got himself kicked out of numerous Casinos out in New California for his constant playing. No better not risk it, no gambling, no matter how tempting it was. It was at this point that Seth realized two things, he had no idea how to play Caravan, and he actually remembered something.

 

Getting back on track, “No I’m here to help Ringo, I understand you got a problem with a Joe Cobb.”

 

That got a response, Ringo looked at Seth incredulously, “You crazy? I got attacked by the Powder Gangers and just got out alive, what makes you think you can take em.”

 

Seth smiled a bit and stuffed his hands into his duster’s pockets, “When you return from the grave, all manner of things seem possible.”

 

Ringo gave it some thought, looked over the gas station, turned back to Seth and raised a brow, “Okay, we’re gonna need help. Talk to Sunny Smiles, she’s the best shot in town and we’re gonna need good aim.”

 

Seth nodded, “Alright, stay here, I’ll be back shortly.”

 

=============[Prospector Saloon]=============

 

In he stepped, the Courier looking about the Saloon, hoping that Sunny wouldn’t be too hard to find, surprisingly she wasn’t. Sunny stood at the Jukebox trying to get it to change stations, Cheyenne just lying on the floor near her. Seth stepped over, trying to make his duster flare to give himself a boost of confidence and a look of authority.

 

When Sunny saw him she just laughed, Seth frowned and stepped over, “Ha ha laugh it up, I’m here to ask you something.”

 

Sunny shrugged, “Sure, whaddya need?”

 

“I need your help with Ringo and fighting Joe Cobb.”

 

“Say no more, I’m in.”

 

Seth blinked, “Uh, really? You sure you don’t wanna think i-”

 

“Way I see it, Cobb’s itchin’ for a fight no matter what. No sense in waiting on him to come in.”

 

Seth nodded, it made sense, “Thanks Sunny, anyone else I should talk to?”

 

“Yeah, Trudy, Chet, Easy Pete, and Doc Mitchell. Trudy’s the mayor and holds a lot of sway, Chet’s got the goods we need to defend ourselves, Easy Pete's has dynamite we can use to blast the Powder Gangers, and Doc Mitchell has medicine.”

 

Seth smiled, “Thanks Sunny,” he said stepping over to Trudy.

 

Trudy looked at him from behind the bar, “So, you’ve been causing quite a stir. Don’t tell me, ghost town gunfight stuff.”

 

Seth smiled, “Come on, it’ll be exciting, guns, explosions. It’ll also keep Cobb out, he’s coming back with a posse to burn Goodsprings to the ground.”

 

Trudy gave it some thought, “Let me have a word with a few other folks and I'll see if I can't round up some more members for this militia you're creating.”

 

Seth smiled, “Any advice for dealing with Easy Pete or Chet?”

 

“Just try to convince them you know what you’re doing.”

 

=============[Outside the Saloon]=============

 

Seth stepped out to Easy Pete and stared at the older gentlemen, and the two ended up talking dynamite and a bit of Pete’s past. Seth wanted to build a rapport with Pete to make it more likely he’d get the dynamite.

 

Pete however, being a old prospector, was stubborn. “Too dangerous, sorry. Blow yourself up, blow your neighbor up, blow the whole town up.”

 

Seth took a deep sigh, ran his hands through his hair and then smiled a bit, “I’m more than familiar with the care of dynamite Pete, I know that prospectors use short fuse dynamite for blasting into abandoned areas. Generally a good idea to get it off hand as soon as you’ve lit the fuse.”

 

“Uh huh. Guess you know what you're doing. I'll go dig it up and get it ready. You'll have it by the time the fighting starts.”

 

=============[Goodsprings]=============

 

Doc Mitchell had been easy to handle, he couldn’t fight but he’d provide medical supplies, Chet took some more convincing as he did run a business. All that was left was to return to Ringo. Seth however wasn’t going to head over just yet, there was a certain someone he had yet to visit.

 

He walked over to Victor’s house and began talking with the robot, old world bots were all weaponized for some damned reason. Add in Robco and everything, plus with a model name like “securitron” and it became increasingly clear that Seth wanted robotic muscle to back up this fight.

 

Victor didn’t take much convincing, “Trouble with rustlers? Count me in, pardner. Those varmints will be running home with their tails between their legs soon enough.”

 

The sight of Victor breaking out a automatic weapon assured Seth, they were prepared for anything.

 

=============[Goodsprings Gas Station]=============

 

Seth stepped in and looked for Ringo, it was getting dark out and he wanted to assure the Caravaneer that the plan was well under way. Ringo wasn’t hard to find, sitting behind the counter cleaning his 9mm Pistol, that made things easier.

 

“Ringo get up.”

 

Ringo nearly jumped and stood up, “So what’s the word?”

 

“We got the backup, we’re good to go.”

 

Ringo smiled a bit, “Best news I heard all day. Are ya ready?”

 

Seth pulled Wolfjaw out of his duster and smirked, “Oh I’m ready alright.”

 

The door slammed open, throwing Seth off balance in shock as he looked over, it was Sunny, and she wasn’t looking very sunny right now.

 

“Cobb’s here!”

 

Seth stood up and tucked Wolfjaw back into his duster, “How many?”

 

“At least 6, Cobb included, they look pretty mean.”

 

“Let’s go then!”

 

“I’ll be holed up by the store, let’s hope Cobb doesn’t make it that far.”

 

The 3 rushed out, the gunfight had begun.

 

=============[Goodsprings]=============

 

Seth charged ahead, sprinting to the action, a sick grin on his face. Oh how he had missed the basics of the wasteland, and some assholes threatening a quiet town over one jackass was more than enough justification in Seth’s book.

 

The townsfolk were doing fine, having lined up and ready. Cobb entered in as Seth charged on the scene and saw the good folk of Goodsprings, all ready for him. Cobb grimaced and looked at Seth who leaned on the goodsprings sign, “You’re gonna pay for crossing the Powder Gangers.”

 

The fight broke out, Powder gangers firing simple shotguns and pistols at the townsfolk, who lobbed dynamite in response.

 

Sunny raised her varmint rifle and popped one of the gangers in the head, Seth gleefully charged in and started firing, taking out one Ganger’s head at close range, it exploded into viscera from both barrels

 

It was becoming clear that Cobb had not picked out the best, or the brave, merely the ones who would follow him. Seth was fine with that, very fine as he popped V.A.T.S and proceeded to take out another powder ganger with a both barrels of Wolfjaw, the victim’s chest more resembling tenderized meat more than a human torso.

 

 **_KA-BOOM_ ** went another gangers, downed by dynamite. Cobb and one left, who panicked and started running, “Fuck this! You’re on your own Cobb!”

 

Cobb was about to argue with the Powder Ganger running off, when he heard the sound of shotgun barrels being snapped into place, on the other side of his cover, the Goodsprings water tower, was Seth, smiling.

 

Cobb looked up and raised his .357, Seth swatted it out of his face and raised his shotgun.

 

Though something possessed him, before Seth pulled the triggers, he looked at Cobb and smirked.

 

“From where you’re kneeling it must seem like a 18 karat run of bad luck, the truth is-” Seth said, “-The game was rigged from the start," and then he pulled the triggers, Cobb flew backwards, dead.

 

Goodsprings, was safe at last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took awhile to write, and I'm not totally happy with it, but I hope to improve in later chapters.


	5. Chapter 4: They Went Thataway

Seth squatted over Joe Cobb’s dead body and was looking over him for loot and such, some of the settlers seemed a little disgusted but Seth didn’t mind. Here’s the thing about surviving the wastes, say you get lucky and kill a guy with better shit than you, do you just let that stuff go to waste? No! You loot the body!

 

It wasn’t always a approved of practice, but honestly out here in the wastes, you work with what you get, Seth however drew the line at chems and clothing, looting for caps, ammo, stimpaks, or even a better gun? Totally fine, stripping someone of their clothes and leaving them indecent as their body decayed in the hot sun, yeah that’s a bit far even for him.

 

Seth smiled as he picked up Cobb’s revolver and checked if it still had any bullets, thankfully it was still loaded, and a single action revolver as well, so he was less likely to shoot himself with it. Seth tucked the revolver away and took what ammo he could, shoving it in the smart bag.

 

He stood up and stretched, Ringo walked over and smiled, “Hey thanks for that! That was quite the fight there.”

 

Seth shrugged and smirked, “Trust me, this was nothing, being a courier out here in the wastes is tougher than this.”

 

Ringo shoved a bag into Seth’s hands, Seth blinked and looked inside, caps, “Wait what? Nobody said anything about payment!”

 

“Consider it a thanks for helping me out.”

 

The courier sighed and shrugged, “Okay if you insist, what are you going to do next?”

 

“Think I’ll stick around for a bit longer, get my bearings first,” Ringo responded looking about the town, “How about you?”

 

“I’m off to find the sonuvabitch that shot me in the head and left me buried, then maybe plant my boot so far up his ass he can taste the heel,” Seth responded with a smile, Ringo just stared at him.

 

Seth waved goodbye, turned on his heel and was ready to head off when he realized something, Victor hadn’t showed up for the fight.

 

“Fuck!”

 

=============[Victor’s Shack - Goodsprings]=============

 

Seth marched up to Victor, the Robot stood there in front of his shack, unmoving… well as unmoving as his body could be when it had to continue to correct and auto balance that singular wheel it called movement.

 

“Howdy pardner!” Victor called out, his “face” displaying a pleased look. Seth just eyed Victor suspiciously, the Robot had just sat here, hadn’t even left his spot.

 

“Hey Victor, how are you?”

 

“I’m doing fine friend, could be a little better but I think I’ll figure out why later.”

 

Seth nodded a bit, and then decided to just ask, “Victor where the hell where you?”

 

Victor’s screen flickered, “What?”

 

“The gunfight, Powder Gangers vs Goodsprings. Where. The Hell. Where you?” Seth demanded.

 

Victor raised a claw to speak but froze. His screen flickered several times and a overwrite code appeared, Seth raised a brow in confusion. It continued for a good minute or so but eventually Victor returned to usual operation, “Well howdy friend!”

 

Seth eyed Victor suspiciously and headed off, he had a long walk to take, and only now did he realize that during everything, he hadn’t asked Trudy for info about the guys who shot him.

 

“FUCK!”

 

============[Prospector’s Saloon]=============

 

“Oh yeah the guy in the tacky checkered suit with the bad accent? He went down the road to Primm with some Khans behind him.”

 

“Thank you!”

 

============[Mojave Road - Goodsprings to Prime]=============

 

It was a long trek to Primm, but it was manageable. If you were to be a courier out here in the wastes you had to make good use of time getting from Point A to Point B, and under the cover of night, the Mojave was actually a bearable temperature. Seth was thankful he had bought the duster as the air chilled.

 

The Mojave’s a big place, but surprisingly crossable in a few days by foot, having a car helps but Seth didn’t have the money for a car. The secrets to travelling in a acceptable timeframe across large distances of land were drinking enough water, keeping a brisk pace, and always rest at night, give or take the ability to just walk, run, or jog really fast that most people seemed to possess nowadays. Though Seth was certain the ability to travel across vast distances in a shorter amount of time was a common mutation that humanity had gained sometime in the past 200 years or so, either via mutation or something that happened before the War.

 

_ “Wow I have way too much time with my own thoughts by myself…” _ Seth thought realizing the entire process he had just gone over,  _ “And it wasn’t even about my past, what do I remember about myself?” _

 

Seth looked at his pip boy and saw that it was getting close to midnight, damn had the day really gone on that long? He’d be left alone to the nightstalkers and whatever raiders were left on the roads at this rate, sure at this rate Seth could defend himself fine, it was just the idea of being exposed with no sleep.

 

His luck picked up as he found a old metal shack out on the road, a sign stuck to it with a old Pre-War plane on a sanded over runway, “Jean Sky Diving” it said. Seth pulled Grayson out and waved it about, looking about for any Powder Ganger stragglers, since the big fight was just a hour or two ago. Lucky for him, the roads were clear, and the only sign of any bandits were just a few old shoes chewed up and spit out with sulfur burns.

 

_ “Hey I recognized sulfur!” _

 

Seth stepped inside and locked the door, all that was left was a old desk, a chair, a radio, and some lockers. Seth sighed and stretched, settling on a chair he set a timer on his pip boy, slowly drifting into sleep.

 

============[???]=============

 

_ On the road, Seth smiled and laughed, there were others around him, laughing as well. _

_ It was familiar, it was good time, the pack Brahmin CS Lewis carrying the goods. He was a fairly smart Brahmin and could understand a lot of commands, as it was said, two heads were better than one. _

 

_ There were others around him, voices, he looked about and could see them, but he didn’t recognize them, though slowly their features appeared. Seth couldn’t help but feel something, a closeness with these people. _

 

_ Who were they, they seemed about his age, were they his fami- _

 

_ A explosion went off, tossing everyone around. _

 

============[Jean Sky Diving]=============

 

Seth awoke as a loud knocking came at the door, he drew Grayson, and then drew Texas (the .357 he had recently grabbed), he kicked the table over and waited. It might just have been paranoia, after all someone might have been living here and Seth was just being a jerk wh-

 

“HEY OPEN UP! THE POWDER GANGERS OWN THIS SPOT AND YOU’RE TRESPASSING! JUST HAND OVER YOUR GOODS AND WE’LL LET YOU LIVE!” A voice on the other side called.

 

Seth breathed a sigh of relief, thank whatever god above, they were just bandits. Oh they were bandits.

 

Once more, “FUCK!”

 

The door blasted open and 3 Powder Gangers charged in, Seth managed to pop 2 of them firing with Grayson and Texas, the last one however was proving difficult. Seth took a deep breath and turned on V.A.T.S.

 

To his shock the program glitched, apparently it couldn’t work with two weapons at a time, something about limited calculative space on the User OS. Seth was fairly certain the program was calling him a idiot so he dropped Texas and just used Grayson. The program picked up and gave him the calculations, he could make 3 shots, and no more with his current AP.

 

Whatever the hell AP worked with, Seth didn’t care, all he cared about was that he was under attack. 2 to the chest, one to the forehead. Simple enough, he pulled the trigger and let V.A.T.S run.

 

Grayson’s first two bullets hit their mark, but did nothing against the Kevlar body armor the Powder Ganger wore, 10mm was a decent bullet but worthless against actual armor, the face however, that worked better as Seth learned. The Ganger dropped dead and Seth smiled, another bandit dead and not trying to kill him.

 

He stepped outside the shack and brushed himself off, the gangers didn’t have much useful, just some 9mm Pistols, which could be sold later, but ultimately weren’t his style. Seth stretched and rubbed his forehead, that dream was too real, was his memory coming back? What was so significant about that… caravan? Was that a caravan he was in?

 

============[Primm]=============

 

Seth marched up to the town, only to be stopped, the guard before him wore a tan suit with ceramic plates and a brimmed hat with goggles meant for wasteland sand storms. It took Seth a moment but he recognized the individual, that was a NCR Trooper. He spoke up, rather assertively, “Primm’s off limits, you’re gonna have to go another way.”

 

Seth blinked, “What’s wrong?”

 

“Town is overrun with bandits, turn the other way,” The Trooper repeated.

 

Seth sighed, he didn’t need this, there was info about the men who shot him in there. He took a deep sigh, put on a smile and said, “I can handle myself, thank you.”

 

The trooper shrugged, “Fine, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

 

Seth rolled his eyes and got to walking, Primm was kind of awkward as the road dipped under a bridge, and was filled with road blocks. Seth grumbled as he turned around the fence, maybe Primm was overrun as it took forever for help to come in!

 

“DID YOU THINK OF THAT PRIMM?!” He blurted out.

 

Seth blinked and realized he was yelling to no one, “Oh…”  _ “Way to go dummy, you’re broadcasting to the world that you’re insane!” _

 

The only thing that concerned him was finding his safehouse, and finding out where everyone else went. Of course bandits might pose a problem, as Seth looked out he could see a few merc coats on what appeared to be wooden tracks, he blinked and dug for a pair of binoculars, only to realize he had none.

 

Grayson had range but didn’t have accuracy, and while Wolfjaw was great, they were unfortunately just a double barrel shotgun and Seth had no slug rounds, even if he did, Wolfjaw only had two shots.

 

This called for Yosemite, Seth chambered a round and stepped forward slowly, sure enough he could hear it, voices.

 

“Come on get the blasted door open,” “Hey it’s not easy, we ain’t got no dynamite as Bill and Ted up the road were watching over the boxes, and nobody’s seen those two chucklefucks in the past 2 days!”

 

Seth thought back to the old shoes, and laughed to himself a bit, he knew exactly where Bill and Ted were. Unfortunately, “Hey someone’s laughing”, he forgot to keep his volume down.

 

Seth popped V.A.T.S as soon as the first bandit rounded a corner, judging from the jailhouse outfit, Powder Gangers. Seth ran trying to hit the others as best as he could, until he expended the magazine from Yosemite. He needed to reload, only to get a 9 mil to the chest for that.

 

Seth wheezed, thankful that the new outfit had some protection in layers, but he could definitely feel a bruised rib thanks to all of this, he popped the last ganger only to get a 5.56 round through his left arm. Seth whipped about and saw peering over a railing a Powder Ganger with their own varmint rifle.

 

Grimacing Seth chambered a round, took, aim, and fired just as the asshole who shot him chambered another himself. Down the ganger fell, a hole in his head.

 

“Great… just great… I get to Primm… I get shot, I need to ask some questions here.”

 

Seth marched over to the Vikki and Vance Casino, the lights on meant people, which meant people who would answer questions.

 

He knocked on the door as he stuck a stimpak in his neck and let the medicine do its magic, “Hey open up! I got some-”

 

The door opened and 4 people with shotguns were there, at the front was a older black man, holding a .357 Revolver, “Best start talking boy, why are you here, and what do you want?”

 

Seth slowly marched in with his hands up, the stimpak still hanging off his neck, “Well I’m not a Powder Ganger that’s for damn sure.”


	6. Chapter 5: My Kinda Town

=============[Primm Casino]=============

 

The man leading the guards was one Johnson Nash, Seth recognized him a bit, the Mojave Express had a outpost here, couriers came through frequently. Seth had dealt with him once before, when getting the order for the platinum chip. Johnson Nash was a fair headed individual who had lived longer out in the Mojave then Seth had been alive, naturally Seth was hoping this second encounter wouldn’t end with him being shot in the head… again.

 

“Ey, Johnny! It’s me, the Sixth Courier!”

 

Johnson looked over Seth, “Well I’ll be damned. What brings you back here?”

 

“Looking for the sonuvabitch that shot me and left me for dead, also stole my package I was supposed to deliver, BUT MOSTLY THE SHOT ME!”

 

Johnson shook his head, “So… what was your name again?”

 

“Seth?”

 

“Seth, what makes you think that the man who shot you travelled through here?”

 

Seth grinned and asked, “Did a man in a tacky checkered coat walk through here with some great Khans?”

 

Johnson stared at Seth, “Well I’ll be damned… knew that package was unusual, didn’t know it was trouble.”

 

Seth raised a brow, “Unusual?”

 

“Yeah, unusual, strange, not normal.”

 

Seth thought back for a moment and dug into his bag, eventually pulling out his Mojave Express Order and handing it over to Johnson, who looked at it and nodded. “Yeah this is the one, knew the package was unusual, but we couldn’t turn down the caps.”

 

Seth furrowed his brow and looked at Johnson Nash, something was here and he needed to know, “What was unusual about the package?”

 

Johnson sighed and rubbed his neck, Seth gave him a water bottle, hoping the offer would get the old man talking. Johnson took it, took a deep drink and then began.

 

“That cowboy robot had us hire six couriers. Each was carrying something a little different. A pair of dice, a chess piece, that kind of stuff,” He started with a heavy sigh, looking away from Seth. “Last word I had from the office, it looked like payment had been received for the other five jobs. Guess it was just your chip that didn't make it.”

 

Seth blinked, “Anything else?”

 

Johnson grumbled irritably before continuing, “ First deadbeat  we hired to do the job canceled. Hope a storm from the Divide skins him alive,” Johnson muttered that last part, “Well, that's where you came in.”

 

Seth thought back to the Divide, did he remembe- a image in his mind flashed and he shivered, something in him didn’t want to think back. Focusing up he turned his attention back to the checkered Jackass.

 

“Anyone here might know where he is?”

 

“Well, last I checked Deputy Beagle might know, you could ask Ol’ Primm Slim for more info about that, if his memory banks are up to date,” Johnson replied with a chuckle.

 

Seth sighed, “Seriously?”

 

“He’s in the Hotel, being held by Powder Gangers, and looking at you, you’re ready to fight, but you might have some trouble in those tight corridors.”

 

Seth gave it some thought, “Shit guess I’m going in. Is there anywhere I can get some ammo or something, I get the feeling it’s gonna be difficult.”

 

Johnson Nash smiled and lead Seth over to Primm Slim, and a metal crate, “This is what I managed to grab from the outpost. If you have the caps, I can supply something,” he said.

 

Seth looked inside and looked it over, not a lot was available, made sense, limited run of supplies for the outpost, add in the running to the Casino for safety. He dug about and found something, a mod case. A wry grin spread across Seth’s face as he read the label, “Gun Runners. How much?”

 

=============[Bison Steve Hotel]=============

 

Seth opened the door quietly and stepped in, Grayson in hand with a silencer outfitted on his muzzle. Fighting off a army of Gangers would not be easy, but sneakily picking them off one by one, that was a lot easier to handle. Hell Seth would take ghouls, he at least had a shotgun which made handling them easier, at least that’s what Old World Holotapes told him in those old movies.

 

The key to being sneaky is making sure you aren’t spotted, and thankfully out here in the wastes you become desensitized to certain things, such as images in the dark. You have two options, go paranoid and go crazy and waste ammo and stamina at every little thing that moves, or learn to live with the fact that it might just be a singular radroach that doesn’t need a killin’ and just lock your goddamned door.

 

Unfortunately, the inside of the hotel was lit up, rather brightly, there were downsides to living in the Mojave, namely that as it was a ok place to live, which meant power to places, which meant lights. Seth hadn’t even swiped a stealth boy, he thought he had spotted one on Cobb but it had a bullet lodged in it, Seth was basically on his own here, fun.

 

**_KRAK_ ** went Grayson, taking out a Powder ganger that had stepped around a corner. Seth rushed over and gripped the dead body, pulling it out of sight. Rule #1 was always to hide the bodies, never let any evidence of your actions be found. Another Ganger approached and as soon as they got into the doorway for a clear shot, Seth raised Grayson,  **_KRAK_ ** , and another Powder Ganger was dead.

 

Seth dragged the body into the gift shop and was very thankful nobody had seen him yet, it was at this point he realized that the Gift Shop was actually stocked. Sure most of the bottles were empty but there were at least 3 bottles here of the sweet soda that won the west, Sunset Sarsaparilla.

 

Much of the wastes might be Nuka addicts, but Seth always held a soft spot for the root beer, and this was his lucky day, all it took was risking his life but now he had some to drink down later. Mixing Sunset with actual beer also had some pretty tasty results, though Seth snapped back to reality as he remembered where he was.

 

He rubbed the bullet scars on his forehead, “Zoned out there… that’s gonna be a problem,” he muttered looking about the gift shop.

 

There was a singular locked floor safe, which no doubt held some goods, unfortunately he had no bobby pins, all he had was his trusty screwdriver. Seth sighed and figured he’d have to see about a key or something for the safe later, it was back to clearing this place out and finding Deputy Beagle.

 

“What the?!”

 

Seth looked over the counter to see another powder ganger standing there, staring at his dead comrade. Seth panicked, popped V.A.T.S and just managed to get the ganger before he could call for backup, Seth took a deep breath and was thankful that he hadn’t been spotted. His luck had held out for now, and the temptation of something in the safe was nibbling at his mind, for now, he just needed to get the deputy and get out.

 

He snuck up to a doorway, and looked inside, 4 gangers, one of which was wearing metal armor (a problem for Grayson), and was carrying a flamer, a problem for him. Seth grumbled and looked over his weapon options, he had Grayson, a stick of dynamite (from Goodsprings), Wolfjaw, Yosemite, and Texas. He had spare ammo in his smart bag but the problem was that most of his weapons had small mag sizes, and Grayson needed headshots to be effective against anything wearing body armor, unless they were wearing head armor.

 

Seth picked out Texas and gave the chamber a spin, he looked at the gun’s hammer, and then back to the stick of Dynamite, a thought creeped into his mind and he grinned evilly. That would work, that would work nicely.

 

=============[Bison Steve Hotel - Dining Room]=============

 

For Dave, life as a Powder Ganger was simple, you woke up, did some stuff, ate, went to bed. Where the food came from didn’t matter, out here in the wastes, it was kill or be killed, us vs them. For him, this lifestyle made a lot of sense, was simple, straightforward, and reminded people who’s in charge, which is why Dave hated House and the NCR.

 

House was a dictator with a robot army that made his city off limits and imposed rules of “normality”. Dave didn’t like the lie House perpetuated, people out here in the wastes could be so much more and they didn’t need the pre-war world telling them what to do. Fuck House and fuck his army of sexbots, wait don’t fuck the army of sexbots, just kill em.

 

The NCR was even worse in Dave’s book, because at least House didn’t lie that he wanted the old world back and everyone should suck his 200 year old cock. The NCR positioned itself as a “Post War” faction that took ideas from the old world and made them better. Bullshit, they were cock suckers as well that were trying to rebuild the old world, and were lying about being a “better option”.

 

Dave was also one of the smarter Powder Gangers, in that he knew how to effectively use heavy weaponry, which was why he was handed the Incinerator and made the leader of this ragtag band, he even knew the principles of how the weapon worked. It spat out lobs of fuel which are ignited as they are chucked out at a certain distance from the barrel, which then lands and burns whatever it hits, unlike the flamer which spits out a stream of fuel and ignites it from there.

 

He was ready for anything, Dave was ready and willing to take on anything that got tossed their way.

 

“FIRE IN THE HOLE!” Someone shouted, as a stick of dynamite came flying right at Dave.

 

Ready for anything but having your limbs blown off from a stick of dynamite that would potentially rupture the fuel tanks of this old Incinerator you held. Well, wasn’t that just a kick in the-

 

**_BOOM_ **

 

=============[Bison Steve Hotel - Dining Room]=============

 

Seth charged in and kicked a table over before opening fire at the remaining 3 Powder Gangers, fanning the hammer of Texas he managed to take out 2 with 4 shots (he missed twice), 2 shots left, better make them count. Seth popped V.A.T.S and took a look at the percentages for the Powder Ganger rushing at him with a 9mm pistol, arms were at a 41%, Legs at 32%, Torso was at a 75%, and head was at a 60%. Seth sighed and took aim at the head, he had two shots currently, and that was about as much as V.A.T.S would let him take.

 

It was a tough call but it paid off as soon as he left V.A.T.S, the first shot missed but nicked the ganger in the neck, stopping him just long enough for the second bullet to hit its mark, what caught Seth off guard was how the man’s head exploded into gore from the bullet.

 

Seth blinked, and looked at Texas, sure .357 rounds hit hard, but there was no way that they could turn a head into viscera. It was at this point he opted to ignore it and entered the kitchen, where he saw a man with a badge pinned to some leather armor. The man’s face was rather ragged, cuts and bruises were all over it, seems the Gangers had been punishing him, for whatever reason.

 

Seth picked up a kitchen knife and walked over, “Heeey there.”

 

Beagle looked up and smiled a bit, Seth thankfully didn’t wear the Ganger uniform, or any of the outfits the gangers stole.

 

“You must be Detective Beagle.”

 

“Why yes I am, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’d shake your hand but I’m in a bit of a perdicament, I’d be most appreciative if you cut me free.”

 

Seth eyed Beagle, he had that shifty look that said he was bolting as soon as he got free. Seth sighed, “You are aware there are gangers everywhere, I need information, and if you don’t stick with me, I’ll kill you myself.”

 

Beagle went pale (paler than he looked already) and let out a very nervous sounding laugh, “Of course. Wouldn’t expect you to fight your way out of here without my help!”

 

Seth cut Beagle free and handed him one of the 9 mils he had grabbed, Beagle eagerly gripped it and the two started to walk out the back way, Seth didn’t expect to see any Powder Gangers, and was thankful when there weren’t any. Breathing a sigh of relief he turned back to Beagle and asked, “So… there’s a safe.”

 

Beagle gave him a look, “You mean the locked safe in the Gift Shop?”

 

“Yeah, can we get in?”

 

Beagle shrugged, “I mean, I got the key.”

 

Seth looked at Beagle, “You… have the key?”

 

“Yeah, Perks of running the law, free access to the town.”

 

Seth shrugged, he supposed that made sense, they walked back into the gift shop and Beagle dug through his pockets, “Oh wait… keys were taken away from me by the leader, Dave I think his name was, he had a large flamethro-”

 

“UUUUUUUGH!”

 

A few minutes later Seth had walked back with a key ring, and opened the safe in the floor, there was little inside beyond some bottle caps, papers, NCR money, and surprisingly, a gun. Seth picked it up and inspected it, it was a .357 magnum revolver, but unlike Texas, this one was a rich black, with gold engravings and a ivory colored grip, there was a name etched on the bottom, “Lucky”.

 

Seth weighed the options, Texas was likely to be replaced just a few hours after being picked up, on the other hand Seth had heard of this kind of situation, “Uniques”.

 

Out in the wastes if someone has a gun long enough they give it a name and dress it up with modifications and other things, usually these guns got lost or got traded but there was one thing common among all unique weapons, they hurt like hell.

 

Finding a Unique is hitting a jackpot, it typically means better parts that make certain ammunitions do more damage, which means a lot when facing non-human threats. Unique guns typically have better barrels with better rifling, or unique energy weapons hold better crystal lense arrays so the laser doesn’t lose its punch as easily. Hell unique plasma weapons have better magnetic containment for more powerful globs of plasma.

 

Seth tucked Lucky away instantly, “Sorry Texas, your time with us was short, but you will be mounted on my wall in honor.”

 

Beagle looked over at Seth, “The hell was that?”   
  
“Nothing!”

 

Seth and Beagle marched to the exit, Seth now loading Lucky with spare .357 rounds, he’d unload Texas a little later, when he was sure he wouldn’t need to draw another gun quickly.

 

=============[Primm]=============

 

The two walked out and Seth yawned, he had slept for… actually how long was he out under Doc’s care? Couldn’t have been too long for Benny not to be a recent memory, but it couldn’t have been a singular evening with the bullet scars. Then there was the Jean Sky Diving he slept at, how long was he out there? Seth hadn’t checked the time on his pip boy when he left so it- Whatever the case, he could feel himself attempting to fight a battle with the need to sleep, it was winning, best get Beagle’s testimony soon.

 

“Well that was quite an adventure, we taught those convicts a thing or two didn’t we?” Beagle started, speaking loudly as if to assure everyone who might be listen that he wasn’t just captured, tied up, and needed to be rescued by some random stranger who might not be in the best frame of mind right now, “Breaking myself out of a hostage situation, not to diminish your role in it of course, but it was quite thrilling.”

 

Seth just squinted at Beagle, “So… checkered suit man, tacky outfit, bad hair, silly accent. Followed by Great Khans? Anything?”

 

Beagle looked over Seth and shrugged, “I’d tell you more but… well it looks like you’re gonna pass out and forget everything I told you, while I still need to get myself patched up, and honestly rested.”

 

Seth couldn’t argue with that, “Okay… bright and early tomorrow. I expect some answers.”

 

Beagle nodded and just walked off, Seth however, turned to the rest of Primm, and walked towards a set of run down buildings, digging about through the rubble for anything. Many back in more civilized territory would wonder why so many locations despite being put back together aren’t properly rebuilt, or why people are living in Metal Shacks.

 

There were a variety of reasons for this; number 1 was resources, it’s not exactly easy to turn a old run down home or building into a proper living space and many just don’t have the time and resources necessary to do so, especially when said spaces may be overrun with mutants or lack proper protection from the outside, when building your own out of scrap while still intensive, made sure you had control over how it turned out. Number 2 was that some preferred to build their own shelters out of a sense of pride in rebuilding, using the resources of the old world was seen as shameful by many, and some in a attempt to rebuild the image of scavenging took on the name “Prospector”.

 

The final reason was one Seth was familiar with, bandits, bandits always go for the nicer looking places because it often means, better loot. There’s no if ands or buts about it, nice place equals nice loot, even if it doesn’t have any, thus a lot of shelters built by modern settlers act as camouflage, Raiders still raid them, but are less likely to.

 

For Seth, camouflage was the idea, and as he dug through, he found the cellar doors, he smiled, on there was a painted Six. Another major rule was for people who often traversed the wastes was to set up safehouses, sure there are hotels and such but often at times the better option is to just pay a couple thousand caps for a place to hide out, there were people who made jobs out of this. This was also the reason he didn’t have a car at all, he had a few safehouses across the mojave, since he frequente-

 

Seth realized all this reminding himself of why was starting to get tiring, and he just needed to sleep. He twisted the combination lock and opened the doors, climbing inside and locking the several bolts behind him.

 

=============[Primm Safehouse]=============

Seth climbed down and looked about, it was a simple basement cellar, it had a singular mattress bed, a old fridge, hopefully stocked with some non perishables, a table with a fission battery and a hot plate for heating things, a radio, and a workbench meant for maintaining weaponry,. All in all, a good place to call home, for now. Seth grumbled as he took off the smart bag and looked at the Pip Boy still strapped to his arm, this was removable right? Biometric lock couldn’t keep it on permanently.

 

The Pip Boy hissed as a click was heard and Seth felt it loosen, he slowly took it off and noticed the scabbing area on his arm, that’s where the implant must have gone, he set down the Pip Boy on the workbench and climbed onto his bed. It had been a long day, and Seth just wanted to sleep

 

He was out cold in a instant as soon as he lay down.

 

=============[???]=============

 

_ Seth rushed over and gripped onto one of the old Chinese Type 93 Rifle, bandit attack, it was always bandits. For once he’d like the attack to be radroaches, or leperous ghouls, or fucking little green men from mother fucking Mars!  _

 

_ Bandits were trouble, and always focused on just causing as much damage as possible, sometimes they had bikes, sometimes they had robots, and most annoyingly sometimes they had energy weapons. Fucking energy weapons hurt like a bitch, sure you were less likely to bleed out, but that was because your wound was now cracked burnt toast on your skin, sure Stimpaks healed it right up, by making the burnt skin literally peel off of you as the fixed skin grew underneath. _

 

_ The others, a 3 guys and 2 women, the names were hard to find for all of them, but he recognized at least 2 of them. The Stout guy with the buzz cut, that was Drake, he was a NCR soldier until he got discharged due to… something, he tended to live his life pretty military. The woman with the red hair, that was Alex, she was fun and always ready to kick back, she was also the caravans negotiator, and often brokered deals for trade. _

 

_ Seth wouldn’t let anything happen to them, he gritted his teeth and opened fire on some Fiends running at them, the explosion was just a tin can bomb, nothing too major, he’d survive. There was a bit of tin shrapnel in his right leg, it stung but nothing a little med-x couldn’t fix later, right now he had a laser focus. _

 

_ Speaking of lasers, Drake had his old Wattz Laser rifle, Seth never minded the Wattz series but had always honestly preferred the more blocky military AER series, hell even one of those silly Recharger Rifles would be useful right now. The two were making quick work of the Fiends. _

 

_ It almost seemed like they would wi- _

 

=============[Primm Safehouse]=============

 

Seth awoke and looked about, judging by the dull light from the singular wall mount, Seth was still in his safehouse, no shiv in his gut, no raiders pointing pipe shotguns, and his Pip Boy was still over on the workbench. Congrats Seth, you were alive, you had slept, the safehouse worked, and you were hungry.

 

Seth stretched and opened the fridge, picking out a can of NCR Surplus rations, probably preserved brahmin meat mixed with whatever veg or legumes were grown back in farmland. Corn as well, plentiful corn that lined sharecropper farms. Still, another day ahead, time to finally figure out where that fuck went.

 

Seth realized, that was less violent than what he had intended for tacky suit, he blinked as he opened the can and heated it up, strapping his pip boy back to his arm, maybe he was just still a little tired. After all you don’t crawl out of your grave for revenge and start to lose it this early on.

 

=============[Primm]=============

 

Seth climbed out and used the new keys he got from the safehouse to lock it up, and then he realized, it was really lucky he remembered the combination to open it in the first place. Maybe his memory would return fully soon enough, that dream though, what was his brain showing him?

 

As he continued walking back into Primm, he noticed people out and about, activity in the streets, and a few trying to clear the road of bodies, seems the attack he suffered last night, and all those Gangers he killed, helped a bit. Still the town didn’t seem… pleasant, like the people were worried, Primm was a good place for sure but it needed help.

 

Seth walked over to what looked to be a police station, and saw a Motorcycle, a Lone Wanderer model, it looked… cleaner than others. Maybe it belonged to the Sheriff and was used for quick runs out of town. Beside it, he saw Beagle, wearing cleaner leathers, as well as several bandages, and looking nervous as hell.

 

“Hey, Beagle, we need to talk!”

 

“Ah! Just the man I wanted to talk to,” Beagle replied, Seth raised a brow in confusion, “You here to help me bring the law back to Primm?”

 

“What are you talking about? You’re the Sheriff now, that’s how this works right? Old one’s dead you get promoted,” Seth responded, rather deadpan, he didn’t have time for this, that jackass was getting away and-

 

“Yeah no, turns out two and a half months of law enforcement don’t count. I’m just the Deputy, except I can’t be a deputy without a Sheriff, it’s called the chain of command!”

 

Seth looked at Beagle, let out a deep sigh and took a wild guess, “I’m not getting any info until I help you get some law.”

 

Beagle smiled, and stopped looking so nervous, Seth groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Okay okay… What are our options? Could Primm Slim work?”

 

Beagle gave it some thought and gave a middling gesture, “Sure if you could reprogram him, but he’s a old robot and wouldn’t be as fast, plus his sense of right and wrong would be… binary. I’d suggest trying to get the NCR over, they’d be rough and full of taxes but they’d be effective, actual armor and weapons that hold more than 6 shots.”

 

Seth thought about it, NCR was stretched thin enough last he checked, wait when did- not the time, focus. “Any other options?”

 

“Well there’s Sheriff Meyers, he has experience, a bit gung ho with some vigilante twist. Currently being held in the NCR Correctional Facility. But he’d work,” Beagle admitted.

 

Seth nodded, the Facility wasn’t far according to his Pip Boy map, but that’d still be several hours just to go grab him, plus the need to take him back an-

 

“Hey that Bike, what’s it used for?”

 

Beagle looked over, “Oh this? It was used by the Sheriff for quick runs outta town, you know up to the Mojave Outpost near Mountain Past and the Long 15.”

 

Seth grinned, “Mind if I borrow it?”

 

=============[NCR Correctional Facility]=============

 

Sheriff Meyers, or rather just Meyers as he was known now, sat at his table and quietly ate what food was there. The Powder Gangers around him thankfully were quiet for once, they had the facility and had a forward base of operations, unlike Vault 19 which was a great home base.

 

Meyers however was just waiting for the NCR to come in and clean things up, eventually, hopefully… truthfully Meyers had no major hope about getting out of here and was ready to maybe just let himself waste away doing what the Gangers said.

 

Gunshots outside changed that perspective, the door was kicked open and in a smooth action, the 3 gangers around him were dead, Meyers looked at the man who had charged in and saw he was wearing a thick leather duster, and was currently taking one of the hats from the gangers, similar to his hat really.

 

“Hey, you didn’t draw a gun as soon as I kicked the door in, you Sheriff Meyers?”

 

Meyers nodded, highly confused at what just happened.

 

“Great!” The stranger greeted, “I’m here to take you to Primm, we’re busting you outta here!”

 

=============[Primm]=============

 

Seth pulled into Primm and Meyers got of the bike looking at the town and to the Deputy, looking still rather shocked, Seth smirked, ready to turn to Deputy Beagle and-

 

“Hey, about the prison?”

 

God fucking damnit.

 

“I appreciate you getting me out of there but… I can’t just start up, I’m still a felon and my sentence hasn’t been cleared.”

 

Seth nodded quietly, keeping a calm composed face, even though inside he was screaming about just taking the goddamn job already.

 

“Could you head up to the Mojave outpost and see if my time is done?”

 

Seth sighed, oh thank god that was easy to cover, “Sure. I’ll be back, Beagle!”

 

Beagle perked up, “Yeah?”

 

“Get him acquainted, if we’re lucky this won’t take long!” And with that, Seth rode off, wanting to just get moving already.

 

=============[Mojave Outpost]=============

 

The Outpost itself was bustling, numerous traders, caravans and such coming in and out of the location, Seth marched into the office and looked about, pretty much tired of this runaround, so when he marched up to the man at the desk, he wasn’t expecting him to be a sort of rugged military cut handsome.

 

“Caravan, Citizen, Pilgrim or?”

 

“Courier.”

 

“Alright, so what can I help you with?” The officer at the desk asked.

 

“You didn’t tell me your name,” Seth said with a slight flirt to his tone, sure it was underhanded but a little bit of a flirtatious attitude didn’t hurt at times, helped that Knight was pretty easy on the eyes.

 

Actually looking at the men and women around him, all of them were good looking. Something about the NCR uniform that jus- Focus up Seth you have a job to do.

 

“Oh - Knight,” Mj. Knight started, “You must not be from around here. If so... it doesn't do to get too friendly.”

 

Seth got the message, shame really, still, he had something to do here.

 

“I’m here to talk about Sheriff Meyers, he’s looking to get pardoned to protect Primm,” Seth explained.

 

Knight gave Seth a look and pulled out some files, looking through them before saying, “One of the Powder Gangers? They’ve been nothing but trouble for us, why would we want one anywhere in official capacity?”

 

Seth rolled his eyes, “He’s not affiliated with the Gangers and his sentence is almost up anyways, think about it like he owes you guys one.”

 

Knight considered it, and then proceeded to pull out a paper and write something down, “Primm’s a important trade spot, and someone that owes us a favor could be useful. If his sentence is closing soon, I can see about getting him pardoned.”

 

He picked it up and walked behind a wall, “Wait there.”

 

30 minutes later Knight walked out and handed Seth a file stamped with “APPROVED”. “There you are, he’s free to go. Good luck out there, and stay safe.”

 

Knight shot Seth a brief smile, Seth returned and waved goodbye, finally this journey was done. All he had to do was shoo-

 

As he stepped out he recalled that he still had no idea where Tacky Suit had headed and this was why he was out here.

 

“FUCK!”

 

=============[Primm]=============

 

Seth rode up, handed Meyers the papers, and turned right over to Beagle, walking over with clear intent, Beagle had the kind of build that would say he had experience, but he was also shorter than Seth. Add in the fact that Seth’s duster easily made him look bigger, “Now, where the hell is that asshole that tried double tapping me? I’ve got a message from the grave for him.”

 

Beagle to his credit, tried to act tough and remained calm, “Aaaah yes, my memory’s much clearer now that the stress of protecting the town is off my shoulders.”

 

Swing and a miss, Seth wasn’t having it and Beagle quickly dropped it, “Sorry, they were talking about some delivery they took from a courier and said they were headed through Nipton to Novac. Meet a contact there.”

 

Seth smiled and relaxed, “Thank you, now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go drive-”

 

“Hold it,” Meyers spoke up as he dragged the Motorcycle away from Seth, “The bike’s property of the Primm Law Enforcement, you were loaned it just to get the law back. Sorry about this but thems the rules.”

 

Seth sighed, “Okay… Nipton right, what’s the fastest way to that?”

 

Meyers walked Seth over to the Bison Steve Hotel and pointed in the direction of some hills, “Follow that Hill Line, it’s the most direct path to Nipton, just be careful of Bighorners and maybe a Centaur or two.”

 

Seth sighed, “Thanks Meyers.”

 

“Actually, been meaning to say, thank you Courier, you got me outta there and got me freedom. I messed up awhile ago by trying to be the law, now I’m gunna do it right, that’s a promise. You need any help with anything here in Primm, don’t be afraid to ask.”

 

Seth smiled a bit and began the walk over to Nipton, checking his Pip Boy clock, it was only about 11:45 am, that bike had been very useful, but Nipton this way should be just as fast.

 

Before Seth headed out though, he needed to stop at the Nash residence and see where his contract stood.

 

=============[Johnson Nash Residence]=============

 

Seth stepped inside and saw Johnson, sitting at his table, radio on, the sound of Mr. New Vegas talking about a package courier that got shot and lived, and then how a small town fought of a gang of raiders. Seth smiled a bit, the news was talking about him and Goodsprings, how nice, it was nice to be noticed that was for certain.

 

Also on the desk was a Eyebot, a rather large model in fact, it seemed armored up and had a license plate bolted to it, as well as a bullet hole from what seemed to be a .308 round if his knowledge was correct.

 

Seth and Johnson talked for a bit, apparently being shot and buried made him legally dead so Seth’s contract was technically null, he was free to continue pursuing it if he wished but he wouldn’t receive the contract payment from the Mojave Express.

 

The conversation drifted over to the Eyebot, as Seth inspected it, he realized it was a simple fix to get the thing up and running again, he offered to fix it for a small price, turns out it didn’t belong to the Nash’s at all.

 

“You fix it, feel free to keep it, otherwise its some scrap someone dropped on us a few weeks ago, I ain’t got no use for it.”

 

Seth nodded, “Okay then,” he responded as he opened the back panel and got to work fixing the damage. He noticed the license plate said “ED-E”, the name of the robot?

 

With the final part in place, the magnetic lift thrusters booted up and the Eyebot was in the air, staring at Seth, beeping a bit. Seth looked over the eyebot and said, “Uhm… Companion Protocol: Begin?”

 

The eyebot bleeped and floated closer to Seth.

 

Seth grinned, “Oh Eddie buddy, you and I are going to have fun. My own pet Robot.”

  
  


=============[Primm to Nipton - Mountain Path]=============

 

As Seth marched up a hill, shot a bloatfly, talked with Eddie a bit about all that had happened to him and how he was rather strung out due to it, and how he pondered how he’d handle the tacky asshole, he was faced with a new problem. A bunch of shirtless men with pistols and dynamite, and very angry expressions.

 

“You shouldn’t have crossed the powder gangers!” the leader of this small band said, “Now you’re gonna pay!”

 

Seth only had one thought about this.

 

“FUCK!"

 

Eddie seemed to respond in kind, playing back exactly what Seth had said.

 

“FUCK!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit this was a big one, be prepared folks the next chapters are gonna be like this. Also the Companion from the Outpost will come later, as of this time she hasn't technically arrived at the outpost.


	7. Chapter 6: One for My Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still a long road to go, but we're starting to make some progress.

=============[Primm to Nipton - Mountain Path]=============

 

Seth leaped out of the way as the Powder Gangers opened fire, he tucked behind a rock as he heard the patter of pistol rounds striking the stone. This was fine, this was totally fine, nothing like being shot more when you’re just trying to peacefully walk through the wastes with your new robot buddy.

 

Seth gripped onto Grayson and grunted, good news was they were pistols, which meant rounds that hurt, but he could survive. Most would argue otherwise but for Seth, he had gotten shot twice at point blank range with a 9mm bullet, which would’ve normally left him a rotting corpse. So Seth was fairly certain that he could survive this, sure he’d need to waste another stimpak, and last he checked he had only 3 left, but honestly not a totally big deal.

 

So as he whipped about to fire upon some poor schmuck who decided it was a great idea to cap him in the head, he saw a bright red beam of light strike one of the gangers in the head, collapsing the poor victim into ash.

 

Seth didn’t have time to ponder as he popped the 2nd ganger with Grayson, though it cost him 4 bullets of a 12 round magazine to do so, and bullets weren’t cheap. Thankfully the red beam came again and struck the final ganger right in the chest, who paid for his shirtlessness by dying to severe laser wound.

 

Seth turned around and saw ED-E, and now noticed he was blaring some triumphant western music, laser gun raised. Seth blinked, “Well then… Didn’t know your laser was that powerful.”

 

ED-E bleeped a bit, Seth didn’t understand a word but he swore the many antenna on ED-E moved a bit, robotically sure but there was… something in there, a personality buried underneath everything.

 

Still, they had a lot of walking to do, “Come on Eddie my friend, let’s get movin’, we got a long walk ahead and I hear Nipton’s not too far. Lesse if we can get there before sundown!”

 

ED-E bleep and bounced a bit, happily it seemed, Seth shrugged and ran with it. Though he really wished he had a car, carrying all these guns was getting a bit annoying… and sweaty.

 

=============[Nipton]=============

 

Tactfully avoiding some bighorners the two rounded a corner and came across some houses, and the smell of burning flesh. Seth choked on the scent and almost puked up his breakfast as he looked over the place, before him were piles of dead bodies, and further down the main drag to town hall of Nipton were people, crucified to makeshift crosses, many looking weak and pained, ready to bleed out at any moment.

 

ED-E let out a worried bleep as the two marched through, Seth gripped onto Lucky, Texas was tucked away for a quick grab should he run out of shots, though he didn’t have much .357 ammo left. It was at this point that Seth heard doors open and whipped about, to see a army of men in crimson red armor flanked by two dogs, with a singular individual leading them, the way he carried himself was different than the others, wearing the head of some canine as a hood, with dark goggles that obscured his eyes.

 

Seth felt his chest tighten as the knowledge of who these people were came flooding in, and all he could say in response was a sprained, “fuck!”

 

The Legion, Caesar’s Legion had come to the Mojave. Seth felt weak as he raised Lucky in the direction of the leader, who only smirked as he walked forward, “Don’t worry, I won’t have you lashed to a cross like the rest of these degenerates. In fact, it’s useful that you happened by. I want you to memorize every detail, to witness the fate of Nipton, and then when you move on? I want you to teach the lesson that Caesar’s Legion taught here. Especially to any NCR troopers.”

 

The way he said Caesar, was less like See-zer and more like Kai-zar. Odd detail for Seth to get hung up on sure, but it seemed significant as he had always pronounced the Legion the former way. The look on the man’s face was still a smirk, though he stopped for a moment, as if he recognized something.

 

“You may call me Inculta, Vulpes Inculta.”

 

Seth grimaced and tried to put on a brave face as he looked at Vulpes directly, “You’re crimes are unforgiveable!”

 

“As are all crimes,” Vulpes said cooly, “‘If you feel so strongly about it, attack us, and then you won’t feel a thing.”

 

That said more than enough, Seth just glared and looked about the crucified people, many were already dead, though a few still lived, Seth tucked Lucky away and pulled out grayson, checking the magazine, still 8 shots left, more than enough. “Alright Vulpes… you win.”

 

Vulpes smiled and motioned for his troops to follow him, they marched off, Seth inspected the victims of the attack, the ones still alive didn’t have much longer to live. Broken, beaten, and bleeding out, taking them down was possible, but the shock would kill them, it was then he noticed some of the outfits, these were powder gangers.

 

Seth stopped and thought for a moment, did Powder Gangers des- _“They don’t you idiot. Nobody deserves this fate! Nobody deserves to be crucified and left to die in the hot mojave sun, nobody deserves to be made a slave.”_

 

He raised Grayson and his hands trembled, he had killed plenty of powder gangers by now, why was this so hard? What was so different about this situation?

 

The Ganger coughed a bit and leaned forward onto the Suppressor on Grayson as best he could, he said only one thing, “Thank you.”

 

“Eddie, aim for the head, make this quick.”

 

ED-E beeped sadly, and Seth nodded as he unscrewed the suppressor.

 

=============[Nipton General Store]=============

 

Fate had not been kind to Boxcars, first about a week ago he got stuck with Cobb as his leader. Cobb was passionate sure but he was trouble, a headstrong idiot, which was proven in Goodsprings when the town proceeded to kick their asses and some wild eyed Courier with a pip boy blew Cobb’s head off. Boxcars had the sense to run before that but he heard the sound of both barrels going off and it became clear to him that Cobb had to be dead. He gripped onto one of the med-x syringes, and to his disappointment, it was empty.

 

Then there was his quick stop in Primm, he had heard about some good shit locked in the Hotel, Bill and Ted had stocks of dynamite up the road so they’d help blastcap the stuff and Primm would be theirs. Though they never showed up and Boxcars realized that he was likely dead if that damned mailman showed up and caused havoc as he seemed want to do. So he ran all the way to Nipton to meet with some old friends, Paul and Joseph. Punch and Judy as he called them.

 

Paul and Joseph were gangers as well, but the two had more sense than most of them and had enough sense to turn to Nipton as a safe haven, Boxcars was going to run the general store with them, turn over a new leaf and help Nipton become a thriving community. Well that was the cover story anyways, the real plan was to capture some NCR troopers and ransom them off and keep the weapons for themselves.

 

Then not too long ago, the Legion showed up, smashed his legs and dumped him inside, taking Paul and Joseph, Boxcars couldn’t help but wonder if he deserved all of this. Sure being a Powder Ganger meant bad karma but that couldn’t be the only reason why he was getting so much shit, maybe he had a puppy kicker or a serial arsonist in a previous life. Maybe some Pre-War jackass that killed people for kicks and not for resources needed to survive.

 

He heard gunshots laser blasts outside, Boxcars sat upright, did somebody come to kick the Legion’s ass? Nah that couldn’t be right, maybe they were getting their ass kicked instead. It stopped quickly, something was wrong.

 

On the other side he could hear someone talking, “Okay we just need to lay down and rest for a bit, there should be a makeshift bed in this general store, plus some supplies. Oh don’t give me that beeping, I need food and scavenging is a core component of wasteland survival, plus I need to rest after what I just did, that was… heavy.”

 

The door opened and in walked a familiar face, the wild eyed Courier, Boxcars went pale and felt sick, partially out of seeing this fuck again, and the fact that his legs no longer worked.

 

“Are you fucking kidding me? First I get my legs smashed, and then in walks the Grim fucking Reaper? What have you got against us man?! Jesus Chirst, okay if you want me dead, just give me 15 Med-X and I’ll OD for ya, okay?”

 

Seth turned around and saw Boxcars, blinking, “Uh… Hi. Didn’t know anyone was still alive.”

 

“Alive? Sure I got second place, they just smashed my legs in with hammers, I’m fucking crippled!”

 

Seth stared at the rather abrasive man and blinked, “Buddy are you right in the head?”

 

Boxcars was confused, “Wait you aren’t here to kill me?”

 

“Not unless you want me to,” Seth admitted.

 

Boxcars just stared at Seth, and then started laughing, “Oh fuck me that’s rich.”

 

Seth looked about the store, then to ED-E, who just tilted slightly as if to say “I don’t get it either”, before looking back to Boxcars, “Uh… about that second place bit?”

 

“There was a lottery, Legion came in, rounded us up, and gave us tickets. I got second place and got to keep my life, except for my legs. Happy?”

 

Seth shrugged, “Not really, I mean, nobody deserves the Legion. Then again you guys are bandits and have spent the past few days trying to kill me, so while I sympathize, enh...”

 

Boxcars grunted, “Hand me some med-X would ya.”

 

Seth shrugged, no point in not doing so, he dug into a nearby first aid kit and handed Boxcars the needle, who set about injecting himself right away, a wave of relief washed over his face as the Courier turned to leave.

 

“Hey, before you go,” Boxcars started, Seth turned back to face the ganger.

 

“I got one thing to ask, some pals of mine got taken up east, if you’re headed that way, free them if ya could-”

 

Seth raised a hand to protest, he had no idea what the Legion was planning but bandits weren’t high o-

 

“-They’re gonna use em as slaves.”

 

The Courier’s eyes widened as his irises narrowed, a mad look as he just glared ahead.

 

=============[Legion Raiding Camp - South of Novac]=============

 

Legionary Aelius and Legionary Celsus were standing watch over the Raiding Camp, Recruits Decimus and Gaius were just further ahead getting prepared to ambush a travelling merchant caravan. Aelius scratched his leg a bit and grumbled as Celsus looked over to the two Powder Gangers they had captive.

 

It was getting dark and honestly, no other Legates had come by to check on them the two were left here. Celsus was getting bored and Gaius just stood vigilantly.

 

Celsus sighed and asked in a dull tone, “Hey, you ever wonder why we’re here?”

 

Gaius shrugged, “Well that’s one of life’s great mysteries isn’t it? Like do you ever think there’s a god out there, watching over us? Or are we all just some great cosmic accident? I don’t know man, but it keeps me up at night.”

 

Celsus stared at his compatriot and just blinked, “Uhm… I was referring to the fact that we’re-”

 

There was a snap, someone was nearby, the two gripped their weapons in hand, Celsus had a hunting rifle, and Gaius a hunting shotgun, and looked about, whoever was nearby was asking for trouble.

 

Celsus found his armor being peppered with 10mm bullets, while Gaius ducked out of the way of laser blasts. Out rushed a man in a duster, dark auburn hair and a wild look in his eyes, the look on his face made his goal clear; _“Kill”._

 

Seth punched Celsus as he got close and Gaius got a chance to fire his shotgun, striking Seth in the side who took a deep breath as most of the pellets dug in. Gaius for his trouble heard the sound of marching music and got several laser blasts to the chest for this.

 

Seth grunted as he stood up straight, looking over to see ED-E flying in firing his laser at full blast at Gaius, the armor was mostly old pre-war football padding so it quickly burned under the sustained fire.

 

Celsus began to run, hoping to get out of there as fast as he could, get help, get anything, just to ge-

 

**_BAKOOM-BAKOOM_ **

 

Celsus fell to the ground, he couldn’t feel his right leg, he rolled over and looked with horror as Seth marched over, a eerily calm look in his eyes. His right leg had been blown to meaty chunks, the Courier’s hands tightly gripped around a caravan model shotgun.

 

Seth clicked Wolfjaw open and slowly began to reload the gun, he stepped on the Legionary’s chest and raised Wolfjaw to the man’s head, he said nothing, as he pulled the trigger.

 

Gaius was dead now, a hole having been burned a inch or two deep into his chest by ED-E who had finally stopped firing, he turned to Seth and just saw his compatriot loading his shotgun again, coldly and mechanically.

 

Seth took a deep breath and looked over the mess he had caused, then over to the two gagged Powder Gangers, staring in abject horror at what they had just witnessed. Seth marched over and pulled out a knife, the two started to panic and mumble, only to be shocked when Seth shouted at them, “CALM THE FUCK DOWN!”

 

The two blinked, “If I wanted to kill you two I would’ve done it already! I don’t aim to make people suffer! Jesus, I was asked to come get you.”

 

Seth untied them and helped them get the gags off, Paul was the first to speak up, “The hell man? We just heard from Boxcars that you were some sort o-”

 

“Of Grim Reaper, yeah I know. Boxcars sent me, asked me to save you two.”

 

Joseph just stared, confused as all hell, “Why?”

 

“Truth be told the only thing I can’t stand more than bandit scum like you is slavers.”

 

The two looked at each other, then back to Seth who just frowned, “Now. Grab their weapons, grab whatever supplies you can, and get your asses back to Nipton, your pal is stuck inside the General Store, and needs help.”

 

The two nodded and turned to get moving only to feel Seth grip onto their shoulders, and say in a very tranquil voice, “Now I best not hear or see you three again doing bandit work, don’t make me regret saving you? And we won’t have a problem. Okay?”

 

Paul and Joseph nodded, quietly walking over to the Legionary corpses and picking up their weapons, they looked back and saw Seth walking off. Looking over his pip boy and selecting a radio station, the voice of Mr. New Vegas came on and a song about a man named Johnny and a guitar played.

 

Paul turned to Joseph and said, “Jesus man, lets hope we don’t have to put up with his bullshit again…”

 

=============[Novac]=============

 

Seth marched into Novac, the time was close to 11 and he needed some sleep, he swore that this exhaustion was not normal, Wastelanders could last hours into the morning, sometimes without the help of alcohol, he idly reached for his canteen and took a long drink before turning to his robotic companion.

 

“Eddie do you think I need to sleep more?”

 

ED-E bleeped a bit and tilted till he was more or less floating on his side thrusters.

 

“Don’t you take that tone with me,” Seth responded to the flying metal ball as they walked into Novac.

 

Novac was a quaint settlement, from what Seth could recall- more good news on that front, -Novac relied on scrap metal as its primary form of industry, scavenging nearby rocket sites, the Repconn Test Facility, and so on. Not a bad place to be, though the giant toy dino that was the symbol of the town was tacky as all hell.

 

Seth wasn’t a fan of giant statues… he thought, maybe he just hated the dino and everything else was fine. Did he hate the giant statue at the Mojave Outpost, wait was there one there? He hadn’t bothered to-

 

There was a glint as something scanned the horizon in the mouth of the dino. Something was up there and it was looking for something. Seth glared at it for a few moments as the glint vanished, something was up there and he wanted to see what.

 

Seth darted over, ED-E bleeping in shock before trailing along after him.

 

=============[Novac - Dino Mouth Lookout Point]=============

Craig Boone grunted, nothing new ever came through here, but mutterings from old pals had left him waiting for the inevitable, the Legion attack.

 

As word of the Dam spread and how the Legion’s presence was getting notably larger, there was no way they weren’t going to show. Inevitability was the word that came to mind, Boone was waiting for them, always waiting. He’d sign up again but there was something here he was looking for.

 

The door behind him opened and Boone spun around drawing his machete and pointing it right at- A man in a duster, with a floating robot, who held up his hands in worried defeat looking about.

 

This wasn’t who he was looking for.

 

“God damn it, don’t sneak up on me like that,” He grunted putting the Machete away and wheeling back around to resume his work, “What do you want?”

 

Seth blinked, looked at ED-E and then looked back at the bitter man, and spoke up, “Are you going to try and kill me? Cause buddy I can say tha-”

 

“Not unless you give me a reason to.”

 

Seth couldn’t get a read on this guy, his tone was bitter sure but that told Seth nothing. With his sunglasses covering his eyes Seth couldn’t figure anything out about this guy, there was a lot to tell in just how someone’s eyes moved and looked, also really, sunglasses at night?

 

“Can you see through those?”

 

“I can see just fine.”

 

Seth grumbled and pushed up the brim of his desperado hat, “I just came looking, saw a glint of something caught in the light, guess I’ll just be going.”

 

In a sudden 180 move, just as the door opened Boone spoke up, “Wait, you just got into town, you shouldn’t go, not just yet.”

 

Seth stopped himself, “ED-E go wait downstairs, alert me if we get any unwanted visitors. No disintegrations.”

 

The Eyebot beeped and floated out the open door, Seth turned back to Boone, now standing upright, rifle slung over his shoulder. Seth got a better look at the man now, he had numerous bags under his eyes, a very square jawline, and very little hair, a singular red beret on his head. The beret had a singular plaque on it that read “NCR, 1st Recon. The Last Thing you never see.”

 

First Recon? Seth whistled a bit, meant this guy was certifiable trouble if he tried to take him on, not that Seth wished to fight the NCR. “So soldier, what do you need my help with?”

 

“I need someone I can trust, and you’re a stranger so it’s a start” Boone said flatly, Seth quirked a brow at that response.

 

“You only trust strangers?”

 

“I said it was a start. Nobody in this town looks me straight in the eye anymore.”

 

Seth wanted to comment on the fact that he was still wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses that made him hard to read, but opted to continue, “Okay, so what’s the problem?”

 

“I want you to find something out for me,” Boone started, his tone growing increasingly angry, “I don’t know if there’s anything but I need someone to try. My wife was taken from our home by Legion Slavers one night while I was on watch.”

 

The mention of Legion Slavers instantly got Seth’s attention, he stood upright and alert, staring and listening intently as Boone talked about how the raiding party knew which route to take to avoid being spotted, and how they only took Carla.

 

“Someone set it up,” Boone finished, he was no longer facing directly at Seth, instead glaring more off in the direction of the town, Seth nodded in agreement, it made too much sense.

 

“So you want me to help track down your wife and save her-” Seth started, his tone speaking to a hopeful rescue mission.

 

“Carla’s dead,” Boone spat out with a surprising amount of malice.

 

“How do you know?”

 

“I just know alright, and that’s all you need to know.”

 

Seth rubbed the back of his head, “So what now?”

 

Boone looked straight on at Seth, “Now you go around town and talk to people, find out what you can, and then on my shift, bring them out in front of the Dinosaur, so I can finish it.”

 

Seth blinked, “Wait… what about me? How do I prevent being shot?”

 

Boone took his hat off and shoved it into Seth’s hands, “Wear that, it’ll be the signal that you found them.”

 

Seth took off his desperado hat and shoved it in his bag, he blinked a bit, “Okay, whatever ya say. Before I go, what’s your name?”

 

“Boone” he answer before turning back to his lookout position, Seth stepped out, he could almost hear a defeated whisper from Boone as he walked out.

 

=============[Novac - Dino Bite Giftshop]=============

 

Seth awoke to the sound of ED-E blaring music, he opened his eyes and grumbled, “Oww… my back.”

 

Turns out sleeping inside a gift shop against the racks is bad for you, Seth looked up and saw ED-E, and a dark skinned man standing over him, looking rather confused. Seth realized this must’ve been the owner of the Gift Shop and laughed nervously, “Whoops, sorry ‘bout that.”

 

The man, Cliff Briscoe as it turned out, helped Seth up and walked him over to the front desk where they started talking about what the hell Seth was doing there on the floor. Cliff smiled a bit and offered Seth some packaged potatoes from one of the local Mojave farms for breakfast.

 

“Thanks but no thanks, I got stuff to do, plus I still got a few things of food packed away in my bag from my last safehouse.”

 

“Well then, what brings you to Novac stranger?”

 

“Looking for a jackass in a Checkered suit who left me for dead,” Seth responded plainly.

 

Cliff whistled, “Damn, out for revenge over that? That’d seem like a regular occurence in the wastes.”

 

“Normally you’d be right but-” Seth started before lifting up some of his hair, showing off the 2 bullet scars going right from his temple to his brow.

 

Cliff stared at the result and looked back to Seth and only had one thing to ask. “How the hell are you even alive?”

 

Seth laughed and Cliff sighed, organizing his desk and setting up a few trinkets, a old plastic Dino, and a toy rocket, a look in his eyes almost begging. Seth didn’t notice however and was currently more focused on trying to open another NCR ration tin, currently arguing with ED-E about how best to open it.

 

Cliff cleared his throat to get the attention of the Courier and then asked, “So, Welcome to the Dino-Bite Gift Shop, want any of the T-Rex figures? You’re in luck there’s still a few left.”

 

Seth stared at the Dino figure, then up to Cliff who was looking somewhat desperate, “What about supplies? And Guns? Do you sell those?”

 

Cliff’s shoulders fell and he sighed, “Darn it nobody ever wants the T-Rexes. Yes I sell guns, just let me get them out.”

 

Cliff dug a bit and pulled out some cases, one of which was rather long and opened the boxes. 3 guns caught Seth’s eyes, and he grinned rather greedily at the prospects.

 

The first was a old .223 Pistol called “That Gun”, that was literally the name stuck with the masking tape over it. Second was a hunting rifle with a rather small box magazine called Paciencia, spanish for “Patience”. Finally was a laser gun with what looked to be a specialized microfusion cell stuck in it, a recharger pistol “MF Hyperbreeder Alpha” was the name.

 

Seth wanted every single one, problem was they were all incredibly expensive and he could only buy one with his current caps and whatever scavenged guns he had on hand. Grumbling he opted for the laser gun, staring longingly at the other weapons.

 

“Cliff is there any way I could buy the others?” Seth asked.

 

“Get some stuff to trade, barter is the rule of the wastes.”

 

Seth sighed and picked up the Hyperbreeder, he looked it over and opted to name it later, tucking it into one of the many pockets of his duster, it felt oddly warm against him, probably that tiny reactor thing. _“Okay got a new gun in hand, one that’ll hopefully prove useful later, if not, more guns on hand is always a good thing. What else do I need to- Oh right asking questions about checkered jackass and Carla.”_

 

Apparently Cliff had not seen the tacky suit, but said that Manny, one of the spotters might have seen him. As for Carla, apparently Cliff didn’t have much to say about her, she hung around Boone tightly but didn’t like the gift shop much. It wasn’t much but by the way Cliff’s eyes moved, Seth could tell one thing, this man had no motivation to hurt anyone, they were dead on as he told Seth about Carla, the man had no intention of hiding anything.

 

Seth thanked Cliff for his time, turned to ED-E and whistled for him, as he stepped out the door he heard Cliff shout, “Hey talk to Jeannie May, she can get you a good room while you stay here, actual bed with sheets!”

 

Seth liked the sound of that.

 

=============[Novac - Dino Dee-lite Motel Office]=============

 

Jeannie May Crawford, otherwise known as Jean, Jeannie, May, or JMC, was a older woman, thinned a bit from long years in the mojave sun, graying hairs, but had a face that just said a pleasant individual. She was currently sitting down reading a Mojave Edition of the Wasteland Survival Guide. Business had been slow in Novac thanks to all that nonsense between the NCR and the Legion, it bugged her a little bit considering she had expected more activity considering the nearby Power Plant the NCR had occupied.

 

She sighed and sipped a old nuka cola, seems like folks nowadays just don’t appreciate a good old quiet town. Many preferred the glamorous life of New Vegas, Jeannie’s knuckles tightened on her drinks as she thought about it.

 

With a sigh she adjusted her glasses, only for the bell to ding as someone stepped in, a man with auburn hair, green eyes, and a large duster walked in, followed by a rather bulky Eyebot. He looked about and grinned at the Vending machines, walking over and proceeded to grab a Sunset, drinking it down.

 

Jeannie set down her magazine and smiled, well it seemed someone had good taste at the very least, she frowned a bit at the Eyebot, but opted to be friendly enough. “Well welcome to you. You look tired from the road, why don’t you relax a spell, let this fine town take care of you?”

 

Seth smiled a bit and walked over, “Not a bad town, bit small for my tastes. Prefer the lights of Vegas or Primm honestly.”

 

Jeannie twitched a bit but moved past it, some folks didn’t realize what they had going on, “What can I help you with Mister?”

 

Seth shrugged, “Not much, just got called into Novac to do some looking, met a odd Sniper last night, he seemed rather bitter. What’s wrong with him?”

 

Jeannie sounded sympathetic, “Nothing that wouldn’t be wrong with a man who loses his wife. Poor Dear. I know he thinks she was kidnapped but I’m not so sure she didn’t just run off on her own. You could tell she was thinking about it ever since they arrived.”

 

Seth said nothing and did his best to keep his face neutral, he had never mentioned what Boone thought, and yet. The look in her eyes was way too calm, though that didn’t mean anything, maybe Boone had asked people before.

 

“What was his wife like anyways?” Seth asked pulling up a chair and kicking his rather muddy boots up onto Jeannie’s desk.

 

Jeannie fidgeted a bit for a moment, before focusing up, “How would I put it? She was like a cactus flower, real pretty to look at, but there was just no getting close to her.”

 

Jeannie sighed and looked out the window at the town, “She never did take to living here. She liked the big lights and fast living of New Vegas. I get the feeling she was trying to get Boone to leave with her, but I guess she got tired of waiting.”

 

For a brief moment, Seth noticed something, a glint in Jeannie’s eyes, and just how wistful her tone sounded. Something was up, but he couldn’t just implicate this woman, especially without any major evidence.

 

He stood up and turned to the door, “Well, I’m glad you like Novac so much but honestly, to me, compared to Goodsprings or Primm, this place is kind of a dump. What’s the quickest way out?”

 

Jeannie frowned and looked over at Seth, her eyes didn’t convey much but Seth could tell she really wasn’t pleased, “Well you can jump out the window for all I care mister.”

 

Seth grinned and opened the window, “As you wish!” and leaped out, ED-E following right behind him.

 

Jeannie just stared at where the strange man had stood, wondering what had possessed him to take that statement so literally.

 

=============[Novac]=============

 

Seth dusted himself off as ED-E floated over and let out a confused beep. Seth shrugged, “Little something I read about once, the idea was to say something that may insult her and see how she reacts. I’m suspicious considering how she brought up Carla so quickly, but that might just be that Boone has been asking many others.”

 

ED-E floated lower and let out several low bleeps, Seth tapped two fingers together, “Well I’m not just gonna go ask him how often he’s asked for help.”

 

ED-E tilted and just held that pose, Seth put his fists on his hip indignantly, “You try asking a NCR First Recon Soldier by waking him up when he’s trying to sleep from his night shift! See how that works for you!”

 

Seth shrugged, “Come on, we got more people to interrogate… an entire town’s worth… Crap.”

 

It was several long hours, thankfully Novac was tightly packed together as a settlement and many people grouped together so it made asking about Carla easier, especially since not everyone had interacted with her thus didn’t know. Seth made sure to avoid asking if they thought she had been kidnapped for a few reasons, one was to avoid giving away what he was doing, the other was to avoid panicking the town with the idea that the Legion had snuck in and just taken someone in the middle of the night.

 

Seth found very little to go with, this proved more and more frustrating. Implicating people wasn’t something he found he could without evidence, sure what he was doing was frontier justice but he wasn’t about to pull a drumhead. “ED-E do you have some sort of lie detector built in?”

 

ED-E just shook himself, Seth grumbled, he needed, something, anything! Hell at this point he’d even take the town kook!

 

The resulting grumble about commie ghosts from a old man with graying hair and a hunched over back staring through a motel window, Seth had to ponder what life choices had lead him to the moment where he would literally need to interrogate the town kook for answers about what the fuck was going on.

 

Apparently this had to be No-Bark Noonan, a few settlers had warned him about No-Bark, claiming the guy never made sense, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Seth approached and tapped No-Bark on the shoulder, “Hello?”

 

No-Bark wheeled around and said, “You’ve seen them too haven’t you? I can see it in your eyes, I knew I wasn’t the only one!”

 

Seth blinked as No-Bark looked around them suspiciously, surprisingly ignoring ED-E, “Come on! Back to my shack, we got lots to discuss!”

 

Seth didn’t know what compelled him to follow No-Bark back to his shack but opted to just follow, he had nothing else to go on and anything would be helpful at this point. The three entered the shack and No-Bark locked the door behind them, sitting down in a old beat up chair and grinning, “Well then, what do ya know?”

 

=============[Novac - No-Bark’s Shack]=============

 

The inside of the shack was barebones, a singular chair, a bed, a fridge and for some reason a Nuka Cola machine facing the walls. A unloaded caravan shotgun trap was set up as well as numerous hanging bottles, Seth was amused at everything around him as No-Bark sat, he smirked at No-Bark and decided to ask, “What do you think happened to Carla Boone?”

 

“It was Molerat men!” No-Bark started, going on a short tirade about how the Molerat men were stealing their women for their long hair to make wigs, something about being bald and balding being a poor sign in their society. Seth got a small laugh out of it, but it didn’t really help.

 

Still, he felt like being a little mean. “So, seen anyone acting strange?” the implication being about No-Bark himself.

 

“I don’t trust a man that doesn’t have something strange going on about him!” Noonan barked, Seth was caught off guard, “Cause it means he’s hiding it from you! If a man wears his pants on his head or if he says his words backwards from time to time, you know it’s all laid out there for you.”

 

Seth blinked, the words made some sense, only suddenly No-Bark got uncomfortably close and said something that made Seth reevaluate how he was going about the investigation, “But if he’s friendly to strangers and keeps his home spick and span, more often than not he’s done something his own ma can’t forgive.”

 

Seth thought back to everyone he had asked, all wastelanders, all somewhat dirty or a little off with varying tics, you needed a good sense of humor to survive the madness of the wastes after all. Boone wore his sunglasses all the time, Cliff had implied he was desperate to get rid of the dinos, but Jeannie. She was clean cut, reserved, and her tone about the town and Carla.

 

Something in Seth twisted, he didn’t want it to be his first suspect, it couldn’t have been that easy but… but… there was no getting around it.

 

Seth pushed No-Bark back, “Say, Noonan, would Jeannie May Crawford happen to have something hidden away would she?”

 

“That woman has a old safe behind her desk, Ol’ No-Bark tried ta get in, uncover her alien secrets. But it’s locked and there’s no way in!”

 

Seth smirked a bit, “Thanks Noonan, you might actually help me a bit,” he said, his voice uneasy.

 

No-Bark waved as Seth walked out, unaware of how much help he had actually been, and still more focused on the Molerat Men.

 

=============[Novac - Dee-lite Motel Office]=============

 

10:23 pm, Jeannie was out, Seth ordered ED-E to stay outside and stay on guard, Seth had to find out for himself. It seemed more and more obvious the further he went, but suspicion wasn’t evidence, what was he, the Legion? Still, the office was creepy so empty at this hour.

 

Looking behind the desk there it was, a singular floor safe, key lock. Seth pulled out some bobby pins and held up his screwdriver, one of the major survival points was that good loot, especially uniques, was lockpicking. Not every lock could be picked sadly, some were security keyed locks or had such unique key designs that it made it impossible to pick, a simple floor safe though?

 

**_Click_ **

 

Easy enough to handle. Seth opened it up and ignored the bills and the caps, he saw a singular scrap of paper, picking it up his heart fell as he read it.

 

“We, the representatives of the Consul Officiorum, have this day bargained and purchased from Jeannie May Crawford of the township of Novac the exclusive rights to ownership and sale of the slave Carla Boone for the sum of one thousand bottle caps, and those of her unborn child for the sum of five hundred bottle caps, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged. We warrant the slave and her young to be sound, healthy, and slaves for life. We covenant with the said, Jeannie May Crawford, that we have full power to bargain and sell said slave and her offspring. Payment of an additional five hundred bottle caps will be due pending successful maturation of the fetus, the claim to which shall be guaranteed by possession of this document. M. Scribonius Libo Drusus et al.

 

Administrators of M. Licinius Crassus, Consul Officiorum ab Famulatus”

 

His heart stopped, time froze, Seth read over the paper again and again, his breathing growing shorter with every word. Something in him snapped, slowly in his vision he could see red filling every corner, Jeannie had sold a pregnant woman to the Legion for caps, the receipt made sense, anything the Legion didn’t have in writing they’d ignore. The official stamp at the bottom made it binding, but… what would motivate her to do so.

 

Seth scrunched the paper up and shoved it in a pocket, he opened the door and marched out over to find Jeannie, he had his target, he had his job, a wicked grin spread across his face.

 

=============[Novac - JMC’s house]=============

 

Jeannie sat down at her table, she bit her thumb a bit, another day gone and no word back on the payment. With the NCR nearby getting payment couldn’t have been easy, still, she was patient enough to wait. Jeannie picked up a book and got ready to read, it was by a Pre-War writer named Kafka, the story was about the Brothers Karamazov and the court of law.

 

A knock on the door, Jeannie pondered who could it be at this hour, she opened it and saw the wild eyed courier again, this time grinning widely. Something was up here and she didn’t like it.

 

“Hey there’s something in front of the Dino, I want you to come check it out!”

 

Red Flag, Jeannie frowned, “I think you’re capable enough of-”

 

_Click_

 

Jeannie looked down and saw a suppressed 10mm pistol pointed straight at her stomach, Seth tilted his head a bit, “Walk please.”

 

Jeannie took a deep breath and did as told, marching out to

 

=============[Novac]=============

 

The Dinosaur, Jeannie could work with that, the Sniper, Boone, was still up there. All she had to do was signal and Boone would rescue her, this was something the town had drilled in numerous times over and over. Still, she had no idea why her captor had done this, he didn’t seem like Legion.

 

“So, while we walk up there, slowly, no sudden moves, just as if we’re two friendly people and I don’t have a loaded gun in my coat, tell me, why?” Seth asked.

 

“Why what?”

 

“Why did you sell Carla Boone to the Legion?”

 

Jeannie turned pale, quickly searching for a way to regain her composure, “What do you mean? Legion in our fine town of Nova-”

 

“Cut the crap I have the receipt,” Seth responded, “Legion scum.”

 

“Hmph,” went Jeannie, “Want to judge me over it? She was nothing but trouble that woman.”

 

They approached the Dino, Jeannie looked up at the mouth and saw Boone, as stalwart as ever in there. She was safe, all she had to do was signal once she was in the right position. Seth stepped onto a rock and stood there, still staring at her.

 

“You sold someone, and their fucking unborn child into slavery for the Legion, I gotta know why?” Seth asked slowly tucking the gun away.

 

Jeannie frowned, “Damn girl thought she was too good for Novac, this town is a oasis of tranquility in the wastes. It’s better than whatever hive of sin Vegas is, she coulda just kept her mouth shut, but she had to open it.”

 

Seth trembled for a moment and then grinned as he pulled out his smart bag, “So you sold her over that pettiness… just because she didn’t like your sinkhole town and motel.”

 

Jeannie raised a brow, “You say that as if I’m wrong for doing so.”

 

Seth laughed and pulled out a red hat, it looked a lot like _Boone’s beret…_ Jeannie started to panic, hyperventilating. Seth smirked as he looked at Jeannie, “From where you’re kneeling it must seem like a 18 karat run of bad luck, the truth is… the game was rigged from the start.”

 

He put on the hat and grinned at Jeannie, “Smile you sonuvabitch.”

 

Jeannie May Crawford’s last thoughts before her head was reduced to gib was a long curse, damning Seth to whatever pit of hell was deepest enough for doing this to her, she never understood how she ended up being the instrument of her own downfall.

 

=============[Novac - Dino Mouth Lookout Point]=============

 

Seth and ED-E entered and handed Boone his hat back, he set down his rifle and sat on the stool there, “So that’s it then, how did you know?”

 

Seth handed Boone the paper, “I found the bill of sale.”

 

“Figures they’d keep the paperwork, I guess our dealings are done here.”

 

Seth looked at Boone, “What will you do now?”

 

“I don't know. I won't be staying,” Boone started looking out at the town, “I know that. Don't see much point in anything right now, except hunting legionaries.”

 

Seth perked up a bit, “You should come with me! Let’s go after the Legion!”

 

Boone gave Seth a look, “You don’t want to do that?”

 

“Why not? I thought Snipers worked in teams?”

 

Boone stood there for a moment, hand to chin, he grunted, “Yeah, working alone you’re a lot less effective. I’ve been there and paid for it, but this isn’t gonna end well.”

 

Seth grinned, “We’ll burn that bridge when we get to it.”

 

“I think you mean cross.”

 

“I know what I said.”

 

=============[Novac - The Next Day]=============

 

Seth stepped out of his (technically stolen) hotel room and saw something, a darker skinned man with a red beret like Boone’s, he hopped down and ran over, something about this man compelled him to ask.

 

Manny however merely scratched at his chin, unaware of everything that had happened last night, and wanted to just get through his shift today. When he got to the door of the Gift Shop, he saw a note from Boone saying he was leaving town. Manny’s heart fell as he realized it had finally happened, he hadn’t helped at all with this and now-

 

“Hey excuse me!”

 

Manny wheeled about to see a wheezing man, with a pip boy strapped to his left arm, and a floating Eyebot behind him, “A-Are you Manny Vargas? H-Have ‘ _wheeze_ ’ have you seen a man in a checkered suit pass by?”

 

“Uh sure… what’s it to ya?”

 

“Looking,” Seth panted, “Looking for him. Asshole. Shot me in head.”

 

Manny rolled his eyes, another good looking guy out for revenge, one was enough for him, “I’d be happy to help, just got a favor first.”

 

Seth collapsed onto the steps and took a few moments to sit back up, “Okay… whaddya need?”

 

Manny smiled a bit, “Repcon HQ up the road, people here in Novac strip it for scrap and parts, it’s what we trade, however recently ghouls moved in and I don’t have the time to deal with it. If you could handle it, I’d be most grateful.”

 

Seth gave Manny a thumbs up and got off the steps. Manny shook his head and walked into the shop, grabbing his rifle.

 

The Courier marched over to Boone’s room, watching as the Sniper stepped out, another beret in hand. Boone looked up to Seth, “Hey, this is all I got to say, thanks.”

 

Seth looked over the beret and grinned, placing it on his head, “Whatever you say pal, so, we got a job for today.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“Manny’s asked us to clear out Repcon.”

 

“Finally handling that huh?”

 

Seth shrugged and just started marching off, ED-E following close behind, trailed by Boone. The three had a lot in store ahead of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slowly improving even if it's not perfect, I hope to make the next chapter even better. Though at least this one wasn't as long as the last.


End file.
